Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Sets New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $257.00 and last traded at $257.11, with a volume of 170649 shares. The stock had previously closed at $258.78.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AMGN shares. Redburn Partners cut their target price on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Leerink Partners decreased their target price on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $319.68.

Amgen Stock Down 0.3 %

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $298.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $313.94. The company has a market cap of $138.72 billion, a PE ratio of 33.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.96 earnings per share. Amgen’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 121.90%.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth $426,000. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. increased its position in shares of Amgen by 9.8% during the third quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 977 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Old North State Trust LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 6.7% in the third quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 1,666 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $537,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Amgen by 3.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,156,091 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $699,910,000 after acquiring an additional 76,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 9.0% during the third quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 35,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,578,000 after purchasing an additional 2,954 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is 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.