Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on AMGN. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Amgen from $288.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Amgen in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $318.00 price objective on the stock. HSBC lifted their price objective on Amgen from $343.00 to $381.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Amgen from $333.00 to $329.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $333.74.

Amgen Stock Down 2.3%

Amgen stock opened at $337.49 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $308.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $295.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24. Amgen has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $345.84. The company has a market capitalization of $181.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.45.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The medical research company reported $5.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.63. Amgen had a return on equity of 174.71% and a net margin of 18.96%.The business had revenue of $9.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.58 earnings per share. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.600-21.400 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Amgen will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be given a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 73.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amgen news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 6,879 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.83, for a total value of $2,317,053.57. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 41,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,120,924.09. The trade was a 14.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 3,139 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 7,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,436,703.50. This trade represents a 30.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 10,908 shares of company stock valued at $3,674,966 over the last three months. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the first quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 1,214.3% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 92 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Company Profile

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.