Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Thursday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Dbs Bank upgraded Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Redburn Partners lowered their price target on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $360.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $323.05.

Amgen Stock Performance

Amgen stock opened at $282.87 on Thursday. Amgen has a 1 year low of $257.80 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The company’s 50-day moving average is $311.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $317.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The company has a market cap of $152.05 billion, a PE ratio of 36.22, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.60.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.96 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Amgen will post 19.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amgen

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Old North State Trust LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 1,666 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Amgen by 3.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,156,091 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $699,910,000 after purchasing an additional 76,798 shares during the last quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 9.0% in the third quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 35,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,578,000 after purchasing an additional 2,954 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Amgen by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 65,564 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $21,124,000 after purchasing an additional 2,046 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 24,480 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,888,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.