Amgen’s (AMGN) “Underperform” Rating Reiterated at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird reiterated their underperform rating on shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has a $215.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on AMGN. Jefferies Financial Group restated a buy rating and issued a $380.00 price target (up from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Argus raised their price target on Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Amgen from $360.00 to $381.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Amgen to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $325.55.

Amgen Stock Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $322.67 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $328.77 and a 200-day moving average of $307.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.61. Amgen has a 52 week low of $249.70 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.01 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $8.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 161.72%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.00 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Amgen will post 19.49 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 128.57%.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Amgen by 6.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,088,210 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,809,720,000 after acquiring an additional 3,045,657 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Amgen by 547.8% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,005,269 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,991,738,000 after acquiring an additional 5,923,915 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Amgen by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,564,710 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,890,769,000 after acquiring an additional 243,720 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Amgen by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,831,624 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,679,625,000 after acquiring an additional 751,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Amgen by 6.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,701,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $844,137,000 after acquiring an additional 162,223 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

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.