Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Receives $339.45 Average Target Price from Analysts

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $339.45.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Amgen from $318.00 to $319.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Amgen from $329.00 to $304.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. HSBC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 3,139 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.26, for a total value of $1,058,659.14. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,436,703.50. This trade represents a 30.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 6,879 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.83, for a total transaction of $2,317,053.57. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 41,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,120,924.09. This represents a 14.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,908 shares of company stock valued at $3,674,966. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amgen

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 27,765.8% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,700,621 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,870,880,000 after buying an additional 6,676,575 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the second quarter worth $1,663,726,000. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 11.5% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,795,474 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,303,578,000 after acquiring an additional 1,935,876 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Amgen by 237.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,226,372 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $346,076,000 after acquiring an additional 863,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Amgen by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,711,570 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,996,807,000 after purchasing an additional 841,117 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $330.41 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $177.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.45, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $331.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $306.19. Amgen has a 52-week low of $261.43 and a 52-week high of $346.38.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The medical research company reported $5.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.63. The firm had revenue of $9.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.98 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 162.59% and a net margin of 19.47%.The company’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.58 earnings per share. Amgen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.600-21.400 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Amgen will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $2.52 per share. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.38. This represents a $10.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.57%.

About Amgen

Amgen Inc (NASDAQ: AMGN) is a global biotechnology company founded in 1980 and headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. The company focuses on discovering, developing, manufacturing and delivering human therapeutics that address serious illnesses. Amgen’s work centers on biologic medicines derived from cellular and molecular biology, with an emphasis on translating advances in human genetics and protein science into therapies for patients.

Amgen’s commercial portfolio has historically included biologics used in oncology, supportive care, nephrology, bone health and cardiovascular disease.