Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Sees Large Volume Increase

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 1,541,258 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 37% from the previous session’s volume of 2,436,477 shares.The stock last traded at $263.69 and had previously closed at $262.30.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMGN. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $280.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, September 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $320.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Amgen from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $264.19.

Amgen Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $139.46 billion, a PE ratio of 17.58, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.76. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $248.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $237.71.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The medical research company reported $5.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.44 by $0.56. Amgen had a net margin of 30.02% and a return on equity of 196.60%. The company had revenue of $7 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 18.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $2.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 17th. This represents a $8.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 9,558 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.43, for a total transaction of $2,508,305.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,627,748.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Roundview Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Amgen by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 8,383 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,027,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Amgen by 39.2% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,297 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC acquired a new position in Amgen in the 1st quarter worth $219,000. First Western Trust Bank acquired a new position in Amgen in the 1st quarter worth $334,000. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Amgen by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,688 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,970,000 after buying an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. 74.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Amgen

Amgen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics worldwide. It focuses on inflammation, oncology/hematology, bone health, cardiovascular disease, nephrology, and neuroscience areas. The company's products include Enbrel to treat plaque psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis; Neulasta that reduces the chance of infection due a low white blood cell count in patients cancer; Prolia to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; Xgeva for skeletal-related events prevention; Otezla for the treatment of adult patients with plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and oral ulcers associated with Behçet's disease; Aranesp to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells and anemia; KYPROLIS to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma; and Repatha, which reduces the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization.