Traders Buy Large Volume of Amgen Call Options (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 21,787 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 43% compared to the average volume of 15,254 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AMGN. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Amgen in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Leerink Partners dropped their price target on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amgen

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Amgen during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Up 6.5 %

AMGN stock opened at $307.81 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $271.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $303.52. 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 capitalization of $165.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. On average, analysts forecast that Amgen will post 19.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 115.24%.

Amgen Company Profile

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.