Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Posted by on May 18th, 2023

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN – Get Rating) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 25,452 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 219% compared to the typical volume of 7,987 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 28th. SVB Securities reduced their price objective on Amgen from $282.00 to $267.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Amgen from $276.00 to $253.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Amgen from $268.00 to $258.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, Argus decreased their target price on Amgen from $300.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Monday, February 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $250.94.

Amgen Trading Down 0.3 %

Amgen stock opened at $225.02 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.36, a quick ratio of 2.79 and a current ratio of 3.14. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $239.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $254.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.23 billion, a PE ratio of 15.30, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.64. Amgen has a 52 week low of $220.44 and a 52 week high of $296.67.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The medical research company reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.84 by $0.14. Amgen had a return on equity of 248.47% and a net margin of 30.23%. The business had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Amgen will post 18.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 18th will be given a dividend of $2.13 per share. This represents a $8.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 17th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amgen

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Leelyn Smith LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 80.3% during the third quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Tanglewood Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 930.0% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Bridge LLC now owns 103 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 75.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Company Profile

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Amgen, Inc is a biotechnology company, which engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of human therapeutics. It operates through Human Therapeutics segment. The company was founded by William K. Bowes, Jr., Franklin Pitcher Johnson, Jr., George B. Rathmann, and Joseph Rubinfeld on April 8, 1980 and is headquartered in Thousand Oaks, CA.

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