Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,000,000 shares, a growth of 6.1% from the August 31st total of 8,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,990,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.5 days. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 target price (down previously from $310.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $362.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $325.55.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN stock opened at $320.32 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $328.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $308.48. The company has a market cap of $171.83 billion, a PE ratio of 45.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. Amgen has a 12-month low of $249.70 and a 12-month high of $346.85.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 128.57%.

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.