Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Upgraded to “Hold” at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $333.57.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $283.61 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $152.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $320.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $318.05. Amgen has a 1 year low of $260.52 and a 1 year high of $346.85.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amgen

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Amgen during the third quarter worth $25,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the second quarter worth $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the third quarter worth $29,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the second quarter worth $33,000. 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.