Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Downgraded to Market Perform Rating by Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $335.00 price objective on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AMGN. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $318.00 to $319.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $261.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Amgen from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $339.24.

Amgen Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $331.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.45, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $331.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $306.64. The company has a market capitalization of $178.24 billion, a PE ratio of 25.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.45. Amgen has a 1-year low of $261.43 and a 1-year high of $346.38.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The medical research company reported $5.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.63. Amgen had a net margin of 19.47% and a return on equity of 162.59%. The company had revenue of $9.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.98 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.58 EPS. Amgen’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.600-21.400 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Amgen will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a $2.52 dividend. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.38. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $10.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.57%.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.24, for a total value of $299,253.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,082 shares in the company, valued at $2,381,251.68. This trade represents a 11.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 3,139 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.26, for a total transaction of $1,058,659.14. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,225 shares in the company, valued at $2,436,703.50. This trade represents a 30.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,908 shares of company stock worth $3,674,966. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 27,765.8% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,700,621 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,870,880,000 after buying an additional 6,676,575 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Amgen in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,663,726,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Amgen by 11.5% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,795,474 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,303,578,000 after purchasing an additional 1,935,876 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 237.7% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,226,372 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $346,076,000 after purchasing an additional 863,216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,711,570 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,996,807,000 after purchasing an additional 841,117 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Company Profile

Amgen Inc (NASDAQ: AMGN) is a global biotechnology company founded in 1980 and headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. The company focuses on discovering, developing, manufacturing and delivering human therapeutics that address serious illnesses. Amgen’s work centers on biologic medicines derived from cellular and molecular biology, with an emphasis on translating advances in human genetics and protein science into therapies for patients.

Amgen’s commercial portfolio has historically included biologics used in oncology, supportive care, nephrology, bone health and cardiovascular disease.