Citigroup Begins Coverage on Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Citigroup started coverage on shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) in a research note issued on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $335.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 11.13% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on AMGN. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $362.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $333.57.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $301.44 on Thursday. Amgen has a 1 year low of $260.52 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company’s fifty day moving average is $322.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $318.27.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Amgen will post 19.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amgen

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Meyer Handelman Co. grew its stake in Amgen by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 129,831 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $40,566,000 after acquiring an additional 8,700 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 11.0% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,758,000 after purchasing an additional 2,353 shares during the period. Cornerstone Capital Inc. increased its stake in Amgen by 3.2% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Capital Inc. now owns 106,538 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,328,000 after purchasing an additional 3,260 shares during the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. purchased a new position in Amgen during the second quarter worth about $3,354,000. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 82,368 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,736,000 after buying an additional 2,182 shares during the last quarter. 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.