Cantor Fitzgerald Reiterates Neutral Rating for Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "neutral" rating restated by equities research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $305.00 price objective on the medical research company's stock. Cantor Fitzgerald's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 11.95% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 18th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $315.00 price target (down from $319.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Guggenheim started coverage on Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $309.22.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $272.44 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.70, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.17. Amgen has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.49 billion, a PE ratio of 24.86, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $281.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $286.10.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.11% and a net margin of 17.39%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.96 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Amgen will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Amgen news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 now directly owns 8,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,364,368.16. The trade was a 15.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. First Pacific Financial boosted its stake in Amgen by 304.5% during the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 89 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1,214.3% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 92 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE boosted its stake in Amgen by 66.2% during 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.

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