Short Interest in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Increases By 11.2%

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,810,000 shares, a growth of 11.2% from the October 31st total of 8,820,000 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,480,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Amgen Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of AMGN opened at $282.87 on Monday. Amgen has a 1-year low of $257.80 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The company has a market capitalization of $152.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $311.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $317.16.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. 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. StockNews.com cut Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Dbs Bank upgraded Amgen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $323.05.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amgen

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Amgen during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

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.