Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Given New $280.00 Price Target at Argus

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) had its target price raised by Argus from $260.00 to $280.00 in a report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. Argus currently has a buy rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on AMGN. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Credit Suisse Group cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $220.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. Oppenheimer reissued an outperform rating and set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, August 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, August 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $265.44.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $263.15 on Monday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $248.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $237.72. Amgen has a 1-year low of $211.71 and a 1-year high of $296.67. The company has a market cap of $140.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.74, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.61.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The medical research company reported $5.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.44 by $0.56. Amgen had a return on equity of 196.60% and a net margin of 30.02%. The firm had revenue of $7 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.66 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.65 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Amgen will post 18.35 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 18th were paid a $2.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 17th. This represents a $8.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 9,558 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 44,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,627,748.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amgen

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gray Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Gray Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,206 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Platform Technology Partners grew its stake in Amgen by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 5,315 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co grew its stake in Amgen by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co now owns 9,869 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,191,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apeiron RIA LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Apeiron RIA LLC now owns 1,842 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $446,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.44% of the company’s stock.

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.