Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Given “Overweight” Rating at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $405.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Amgen in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America upped their target price on Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $332.55.

Amgen Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $319.66 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $171.48 billion, a PE ratio of 45.67, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. Amgen has a 12 month low of $249.70 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $325.93 and a 200-day moving average of $313.11.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.01 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $8.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 161.72% and a net margin of 10.12%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.00 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen will post 19.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 128.57%.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the second quarter worth about $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 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.