Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Upgraded at Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on AMGN. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They set a “hold” rating and a $318.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Amgen from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Bank of America increased their price target on Amgen from $261.00 to $272.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. HSBC lifted their price target on Amgen from $343.00 to $381.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $335.65.

Amgen Stock Performance

Amgen stock opened at $329.89 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $313.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $297.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.49, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.45. Amgen has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.38.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The medical research company reported $5.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.63. Amgen had a return on equity of 162.59% and a net margin of 19.47%.The company had revenue of $9.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.600-21.400 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st will be given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 73.57%.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 6,879 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.83, for a total value of $2,317,053.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 41,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,120,924.09. This trade represents a 14.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 3,139 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.26, for a total value of $1,058,659.14. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,225 shares in the company, valued at $2,436,703.50. This represents a 30.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,908 shares of company stock worth $3,674,966. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,876,851 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $15,204,047,000 after acquiring an additional 165,281 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Amgen by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,357,026 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,196,775,000 after purchasing an additional 177,035 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in Amgen by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,192,995 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,414,296,000 after purchasing an additional 282,219 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,795,474 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,303,578,000 after purchasing an additional 1,935,876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,018,617 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,619,489,000 after buying an additional 291,271 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.