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

Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $339.45.

Several research firms recently issued reports on AMGN. UBS Group raised Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. HSBC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Monday, December 29th. DZ Bank upped their target price on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $364.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target 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.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $330.03 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $177.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.45. 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 has a one year low of $261.43 and a one year high of $346.38. The company’s 50-day moving average is $331.36 and its 200 day moving average is $305.66.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its 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 net margin of 19.47% and a return on equity of 162.59%. The firm had revenue of $9.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.600-21.400 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Amgen will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a $2.52 dividend. This is a boost 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 yield of 3.1%. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 73.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 6,879 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.83, for a total transaction of $2,317,053.57. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 41,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,120,924.09. The trade was a 14.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.24, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 11.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,908 shares of company stock worth $3,674,966. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amgen

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Amgen by 27,765.8% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,700,621 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,870,880,000 after buying an additional 6,676,575 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter worth $1,663,726,000. Capital World Investors grew its position 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 valued at $5,303,578,000 after acquiring an additional 1,935,876 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 237.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,226,372 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $346,076,000 after purchasing an additional 863,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,711,570 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,996,807,000 after purchasing an additional 841,117 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Company Profile

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.