Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-two brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $332.85.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AMGN. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Monday, December 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $327.38 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.45. Amgen has a 52 week low of $257.05 and a 52 week high of $346.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $319.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $300.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.45, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.28.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The medical research company reported $5.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.58 earnings per share. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.600-21.400 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Amgen will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a $2.52 dividend. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $10.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 73.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 3,139 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.26, for a total transaction of $1,058,659.14. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,436,703.50. This trade represents a 30.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.24, for a total transaction of $299,253.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,381,251.68. The trade was a 11.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,908 shares of company stock worth $3,674,966. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amgen

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Amgen by 0.3% in the 3rd 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 boosted its position in Amgen by 0.6% during the second 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 period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Amgen by 1.5% during the third 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 period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 11.5% in the third 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 raised its position in shares of Amgen by 2.3% in the second 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 purchasing an additional 291,271 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Amgen

Amgen Inc (NASDAQ: AMGN) is a global biotechnology company founded in 1980 and headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. The company focuses on discovering, developing, manufacturing and delivering human therapeutics that address serious illnesses. Amgen’s work centers on biologic medicines derived from cellular and molecular biology, with an emphasis on translating advances in human genetics and protein science into therapies for patients.

Amgen’s commercial portfolio has historically included biologics used in oncology, supportive care, nephrology, bone health and cardiovascular disease.