Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Now Covered by Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) in a research note published on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a peer perform rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Amgen in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price for the company. Barclays increased their target price on Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated an “underperform” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $333.57.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN traded down $12.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $283.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,325,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,453,793. The stock has a market cap of $152.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.31, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.60. Amgen has a 12-month low of $260.52 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $320.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $318.05.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.96 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Amgen will post 19.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.24%.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the third quarter worth $29,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.