Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Sunday.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on AMGN. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Erste Group Bank cut Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $305.00 price target for the company. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective (down from $319.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Amgen from $329.00 to $328.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $310.18.

Amgen Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of AMGN opened at $272.41 on Friday. Amgen has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $146.48 billion, a PE ratio of 36.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $291.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $288.09.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. The company had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.96 earnings per share. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Amgen will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total value of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,222,743.34. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,870,453 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $16,471,790,000 after acquiring an additional 148,658 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Amgen by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,441,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,672,975 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Amgen by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,475,032 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,245,881,000 after purchasing an additional 352,143 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Amgen by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,182,843,000 after buying an additional 3,495,503 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Amgen by 1,292.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,693,042,000 after buying an additional 6,029,058 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Company Profile

Amgen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics worldwide. The company's principal products include Enbrel to treat plaque psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis; Otezla for the treatment of adult patients with plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and oral ulcers associated with Behçet's disease; Prolia to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; XGEVA for skeletal-related events prevention; Repatha, which reduces the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization; Nplate for the treatment of patients with immune thrombocytopenia; KYPROLIS to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma; Aranesp to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells and anemia; EVENITY for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal for men and women; Vectibix to treat patients with wild-type RAS metastatic colorectal cancer; BLINCYTO for the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia; TEPEZZA to treat thyroid eye disease; and KRYSTEXXA for the treatment of chronic refractory gout.