Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) had its target price lifted by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $330.00 to $333.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 16.97% from the stock’s previous close.

AMGN has been the topic of several other research reports. Erste Group Bank cut Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Amgen from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. UBS Group decreased their target price on Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $303.76.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $284.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $153.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $293.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $292.48. Amgen has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $339.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $6.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.28 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.86 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 174.71%. Amgen’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.97 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Amgen will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amgen news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total transaction of $434,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,364,368.16. The trade was a 15.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Amgen by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,870,453 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $16,471,790,000 after buying an additional 148,658 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,182,843,000 after acquiring an additional 3,495,503 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1,292.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,693,042,000 after acquiring an additional 6,029,058 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Amgen by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,431,029 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,676,183,000 after purchasing an additional 875,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,128,328 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,336,647,000 after purchasing an additional 685,785 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

About Amgen

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.