Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Rating Lowered to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Amgen has been downgraded to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, reducing its previous "buy" rating.
• Research analysts have mixed opinions on Amgen, with various firms giving price targets ranging from $235.00 to $324.00 and a consensus target price of $303.76.
• The company's latest earnings report showed an impressive 9.4% year-over-year revenue increase, with an EPS of $6.02, surpassing analysts' expectations.

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

AMGN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Amgen from $330.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Amgen from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $303.76.

Amgen Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Amgen stock traded down $1.04 on Friday, reaching $284.05. 1,052,136 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,886,547. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $293.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $292.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24. Amgen has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $339.17.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be issued a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.84%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total transaction of $434,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,162 shares in the company, valued at $2,364,368.16. This represents a 15.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. KPP Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 87.1% in the 1st quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,833 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,716 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 1st quarter worth $1,331,000. DLK Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 20,491 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $6,384,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387 shares during the last quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 1,577 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $491,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 914,380 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $238,316,000 after purchasing an additional 19,250 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.