Guggenheim Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stock

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) had its target price increased by equities research analysts at Guggenheim from $378.00 to $435.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Guggenheim‘s price target indicates a potential downside of 5.52% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Amgen from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 18th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $470.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Amgen from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $420.80.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of Amgen stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Thursday, hitting $460.42. 2,579,312 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,619,150. The stock has a market capitalization of $248.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.71, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $422.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $378.19. Amgen has a 52-week low of $312.39 and a 52-week high of $483.99. 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 quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The medical research company reported $6.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.79 by $0.66. Amgen had a return on equity of 124.14% and a net margin of 22.95%. The business had revenue of $10.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.64 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Amgen will post 23.33 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.57, for a total value of $825,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 6,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,642,098.28. This represents a 23.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amgen

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 38.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,205,243 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $15,283,363,000 after acquiring an additional 11,656,755 shares during the period. MW Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the second quarter worth $1,054,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.6% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 339,825 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $123,057,000 after buying an additional 5,496 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in Amgen by 105.8% during the 3rd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 13,514 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,696,000 after acquiring an additional 6,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nilsine Partners LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,329,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

More Amgen News

Here are the key news stories impacting Amgen this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Amgen reported quarterly earnings and revenue above expectations, with revenue up 8.5% year over year. Its earnings-call discussion also emphasized growth and pipeline momentum, supporting the case for continued expansion. Amgen Earnings Call Highlights Growth, Pipeline Momentum
• Positive Sentiment: A large real-world study found Repatha lowered heart-attack risk by 20% versus ezetimibe in patients with heart disease. The findings could strengthen the drug’s clinical and commercial position. Repatha real-world study
• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank reiterated a Buy view and set a $530 price target; UBS also maintains a Buy rating with a $530 target. Separately, ETFs bought a net $79.8 million of AMGN shares in Wednesday’s session. Scotiabank price target ETF holdings
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinions remain divided: Leerink Partners and Guggenheim have Hold/neutral ratings, while Scotiabank and UBS are more optimistic. The differing views suggest debate about how much of Amgen’s recent gains are already reflected in its valuation. Leerink Partners rating
• Negative Sentiment: Freedom Broker downgraded Amgen to Hold, adding to the cautious analyst commentary and potentially tempering enthusiasm after the recent rally. Freedom Broker downgrade

Amgen Company Profile

Amgen is a biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes medicines for serious illnesses. Its research and product portfolio span areas including cancer, cardiovascular disease, inflammation, bone health and rare diseases.

The company’s medicines include Enbrel, Prolia, Xgeva and Repatha. Amgen serves patients and healthcare providers in the United States and markets its products internationally.

Founded in 1980 and headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California, Amgen is led by Robert A.