Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Price Target Raised to $330.00 at Morgan Stanley

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) had its price target boosted by Morgan Stanley from $328.00 to $330.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on AMGN. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com raised Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $315.22.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN stock traded down $16.95 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $274.14. 1,526,223 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,210,845. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $304.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $295.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59. Amgen has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. Equities research analysts forecast that Amgen will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amgen news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amgen

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 66.2% in the fourth quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 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.