Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

Error: Response status code does not indicate success: 429 (Too Many Requests).

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the twenty-one research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have assigned a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $303.7619.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $292.62 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $293.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $293.15. Amgen has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $339.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.93, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.49.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $6.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.28 by $0.74. Amgen had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 174.71%. The business had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.97 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Amgen will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is currently 77.84%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total transaction of $434,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 8,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,364,368.16. This represents a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amgen

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 27,765.8% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,700,621 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,870,880,000 after buying an additional 6,676,575 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,663,726,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 43,573.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,661,589 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,140,768,000 after buying an additional 3,653,205 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the first quarter worth approximately $688,868,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Amgen by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,431,029 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,676,183,000 after purchasing an additional 875,254 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.