Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Given New $302.00 Price Target at Leerink Partners

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) had its price objective decreased by Leerink Partners from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on AMGN. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $305.00 target price (down from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $323.05.

Amgen Stock Performance

Amgen stock opened at $282.87 on Wednesday. Amgen has a fifty-two week low of $257.80 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The company has a market capitalization of $152.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.22, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $311.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $317.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amgen

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meyer Handelman Co. grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 7.2% during the second quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 129,831 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $40,566,000 after buying an additional 8,700 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Amgen by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 60,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,581,000 after acquiring an additional 1,872 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Amgen by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,592,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $513,033,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Napa Wealth Management purchased a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,104,000. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 7,552 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.