Piper Sandler Has Lowered Expectations for Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stock Price

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) had its price target reduced by investment analysts at Piper Sandler from $344.00 to $310.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price target suggests a potential upside of 18.94% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AMGN. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $256.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $318.83.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $260.64 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $140.10 billion, a PE ratio of 33.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $286.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $311.06. Amgen has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. Amgen’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 EPS. Research analysts predict that Amgen will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $204,659,000 after acquiring an additional 35,785 shares in the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $426,000. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 9.8% during the third quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 977 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Old North State Trust LLC boosted its position 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 worth $537,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,156,091 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $699,910,000 after buying an additional 76,798 shares during the last quarter. 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.