Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Hits New 52-Week Low – Here’s What Happened

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $257.00 and last traded at $257.11, with a volume of 170649 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $258.78.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $310.00 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 set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $319.68.

Amgen Stock Performance

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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $296.20 and a 200 day moving average of $313.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.55.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.11 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.50 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 168.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.96 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 121.90%.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,317,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,446,236,000 after purchasing an additional 345,537 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,122,889 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,893,771,000 after buying an additional 103,851 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Amgen by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,532,629 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,393,718,000 after buying an additional 251,876 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,657,183,000 after acquiring an additional 538,545 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 33,125.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,460,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,437,115,000 after acquiring an additional 4,446,757 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Amgen

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.