Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Short Interest Update

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,820,000 shares, a drop of 5.9% from the October 15th total of 9,370,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,850,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.8 days. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Amgen Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $279.95 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Amgen has a one year low of $260.52 and a one year high of $346.85. The company has a market cap of $150.48 billion, a PE ratio of 35.85, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $318.92 and a 200-day moving average of $318.43.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.96 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Amgen will post 19.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 115.24%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amgen

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Amgen during the third quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on AMGN. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird restated an “underperform” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $333.57.

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.