Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Upgraded to “Hold” at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on AMGN. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $305.00 price target (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given 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, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.57.

Amgen Trading Down 4.2 %

AMGN opened at $283.61 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.31, a P/E/G 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $320.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $318.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $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.