Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stock Rating Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Amgen from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. HSBC cut Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $445.00 to $425.00 in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Argus raised their target price on Amgen from $375.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. UBS Group raised their target price on Amgen from $430.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Amgen from $303.00 to $352.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $387.93.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $432.49 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $415.54 and a 200-day moving average of $374.94. The company has a market capitalization of $233.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.88, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.41. Amgen has a 52 week low of $288.00 and a 52 week high of $447.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.44, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical research company reported $6.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.62 by $0.67. Amgen had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 124.14%. The business had revenue of $10.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Amgen has set its FY 2026 guidance at 22.300-23.500 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen will post 22.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st were given a $2.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 21st. This represents a $10.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 62.65%.

Insider Activity

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy Grygiel sold 2,970 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.16, for a total transaction of $1,194,415.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,951,854.40. This represents a 28.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,252 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.43, for a total transaction of $521,370.36. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,666,817.72. The trade was a 16.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 6,222 shares of company stock worth $2,540,926 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amgen

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rational Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rational Advisors Inc. now owns 199 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 2.0% during the second quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 1,274 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $461,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. James T. Borello RIA boosted its stake in Amgen by 13.6% during the third quarter. James T. Borello RIA now owns 209 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Sweeney & Michel LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 0.5% during the third quarter. Sweeney & Michel LLC now owns 5,129 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Amgen by 0.8% in the second quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,407 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,234,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Amgen

Amgen Inc is a biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and delivers medicines for serious illnesses. Its research focuses on areas including oncology, cardiovascular disease, inflammation, bone health, nephrology and neuroscience.

The company’s products include biologic and specialty medicines such as Enbrel for inflammatory diseases, Prolia and Evenity for osteoporosis, Xgeva for skeletal-related complications, Repatha for cardiovascular risk reduction, Otezla for inflammatory conditions, Tezspire for severe asthma, Blincyto for certain blood cancers, and Lumakras for specific cancers.

Founded in 1980, Amgen is headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California.