Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Price Target Raised to $261.00 at Bank of America

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) had its price target raised by Bank of America from $252.00 to $261.00 in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underperform rating on the medical research company's stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $307.27.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of Amgen stock traded down $1.97 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $306.58. 1,451,093 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,935,961. The stock has a market cap of $164.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.97, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.70, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $289.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $290.70. Amgen has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $340.89.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $8.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 17.39% and a return on equity of 176.11%. The firm's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.96 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total value of $434,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Community Bank N.A. grew its position in Amgen by 1.6% during the second quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 16,109 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $4,498,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its position in Amgen by 2.4% during the second quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 11,338 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,166,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Amgen by 2.5% during the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,952 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $4,733,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in Amgen by 0.5% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 53,433 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $14,919,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in Amgen by 0.7% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 46,418 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $12,960,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. 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.