Amgen's (AMGN) "Outperform" Rating Reaffirmed at William Blair

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reissued by William Blair in a report released on Tuesday,RTT News reports.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on AMGN. Mizuho increased their price objective on Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $315.00 price target (down previously from $319.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $305.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Amgen from $329.00 to $328.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $309.22.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of Amgen stock traded down $2.00 on Tuesday, hitting $277.11. 1,757,296 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,829,083. Amgen has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $281.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $286.01. The company has a market cap of $149.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.70.

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

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the company'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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,162 shares in the company, valued at $2,364,368.16. The trade was a 15.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 27,468 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $7,159,000 after buying an additional 5,226 shares in the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 983 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $694,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Amgen by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,102 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,591,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Finally, Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co boosted its holdings in Amgen by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 4,913 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,280,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.