StockNews.com Upgrades Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) to “Buy”

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

AMGN has been the topic of several other reports. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James started coverage on Amgen in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Amgen from $313.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.05.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of Amgen stock traded up $32.90 on Friday, hitting $311.29. The stock had a trading volume of 9,644,103 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,894,568. The stock has a market cap of $166.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14. Amgen has a twelve month low of $211.71 and a twelve month high of $329.72. The business’s 50 day moving average is $274.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $281.33.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.76 by $0.20. Amgen had a return on equity of 154.27% and a net margin of 23.83%. The firm had revenue of $7.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.98 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Amgen will post 19.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total value of $662,811.53. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,094,268.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Amgen by 11.7% in the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 2,785 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 1.5% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 344,853 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $92,683,000 after acquiring an additional 5,253 shares in the last quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at $360,000. Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at about $208,000. Finally, Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ lifted its stake in Amgen by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ now owns 3,588 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $964,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.