StockNews.com Downgrades Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) to Buy

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Amgen in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Redburn Partners reduced their price objective on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Amgen from $335.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $323.05.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN stock traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $280.07. 6,622,004 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,568,796. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The firm has a market cap of $150.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $312.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $317.31. Amgen has a fifty-two week low of $257.80 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.96 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen will post 19.52 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amgen

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Company Profile

Amgen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics worldwide. The company's principal products include Enbrel to treat plaque psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis; Otezla for the treatment of adult patients with plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and oral ulcers associated with Behçet's disease; Prolia to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; XGEVA for skeletal-related events prevention; Repatha, which reduces the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization; Nplate for the treatment of patients with immune thrombocytopenia; KYPROLIS to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma; Aranesp to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells and anemia; EVENITY for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal for men and women; Vectibix to treat patients with wild-type RAS metastatic colorectal cancer; BLINCYTO for the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia; TEPEZZA to treat thyroid eye disease; and KRYSTEXXA for the treatment of chronic refractory gout.