Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on AMGN. Daiwa Securities Group boosted their price target on Amgen from $310.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $315.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $347.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Amgen from $403.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $351.65.

Amgen Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $375.82 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $335.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $311.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.46. Amgen has a 12-month low of $261.43 and a 12-month high of $385.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.78.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The medical research company reported $5.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.76 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $9.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.46 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 20.98% and a return on equity of 148.37%. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.31 earnings per share. Amgen has set its FY 2026 guidance at 21.600-23.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Amgen will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a dividend of $2.52 per share. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.38. This represents a $10.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 66.90%.

Insider Activity

In other Amgen news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.24, for a total value of $299,253.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,082 shares in the company, valued at $2,381,251.68. This represents a 11.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 3,139 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.26, for a total value of $1,058,659.14. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,436,703.50. This represents a 30.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,908 shares of company stock worth $3,674,966. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amgen

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 2.3% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 160,646 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $45,334,000 after acquiring an additional 3,619 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its stake in Amgen by 165.0% in the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 10,643 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,972,000 after purchasing an additional 6,627 shares in the last quarter. Davis Capital Management purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,841,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in Amgen by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 243,054 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $68,590,000 after purchasing an additional 6,222 shares during the period. Finally, Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Amgen by 56.2% during the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 13,056 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,684,000 after purchasing an additional 4,699 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Company Profile

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.