Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) – Research analysts at Oppenheimer lifted their Q4 2019 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Amgen in a report released on Sunday, December 1st, Zacks Investment Research reports. Oppenheimer analyst J. Olson now forecasts that the medical research company will earn $3.44 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $3.10. Oppenheimer has a “Buy” rating and a $240.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer also issued estimates for Amgen’s FY2020 earnings at $16.71 EPS.
A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on AMGN. Leerink Swann upped their target price on Amgen from $189.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Credit Suisse Group upped their price target on Amgen from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Mizuho reissued a “hold” rating and set a $212.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Sunday, September 29th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Amgen currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $233.44.
AMGN stock traded down $0.37 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $241.53. The company had a trading volume of 1,083,648 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,812,785. The business has a 50 day moving average of $232.06 and a 200 day moving average of $202.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.54, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.59. The company has a market cap of $144.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.77, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.12. Amgen has a 52 week low of $166.30 and a 52 week high of $244.99.
Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The medical research company reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $3.53 by $0.13. Amgen had a net margin of 34.48% and a return on equity of 80.26%. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.69 earnings per share. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis.
A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Balentine LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 36.1% during the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 181 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Atwater Malick LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the third quarter valued at $39,000. Ashburton Jersey Ltd bought a new stake in Amgen during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Next Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Amgen by 42.5% during the second quarter. Next Capital Management LLC now owns 238 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.58% of the company’s stock.
In other Amgen news, Director Ronald D. Sugar sold 2,000 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.58, for a total value of $387,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,181,680.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director R Sanders Williams sold 425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.45, for a total transaction of $91,566.25. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,166,230.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,162 shares of company stock worth $4,601,190. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.28%.
About Amgen
Amgen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics worldwide. It offers products for the treatment of oncology/hematology, cardiovascular, inflammation, bone health, and neuroscience. The company’s products include Enbrel to treat plaque psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis; Neulasta, a pegylated protein to treat cancer patients; Prolia to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; Aranesp to treat anemia; Xgeva for skeletal-related events prevention; Sensipar/Mimpara products to treat sHPT in chronic kidney disease; and EPOGEN to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells.