Following a price cut for its Repatha SureClick auto-injector in October, Amgen Inc. (AMGN, Financial) announced on Monday it is slashing the price of all Repatha devices by 60% to $5,850 per year.
Repatha, one of the company's key products, is the name under which Amgen sells evolocumab, a medication used to treat hyperlipidemia. The device increases the liver's ability to remove bad cholesterol from the blood, reducing the risk of an individual developing a cardiovascular disease or having a stroke.Â
In the third quarter, the American biopharmaceutical company recorded $120 million in sales for the treatment, reflecting a 35% upside from the prior-year quarter and representing more than 2% of total revenues of $5.9 billion.
Following the announcement, shares jumped 1.35% to $198.07.Â
Amgen's stock has gained 8% for the 52 weeks through Jan. 7, is outperforming the Nasdaq by more than 3% and is trading above the 200-, 100- and 50-day simple moving average lines. Despite the recent uptrend, the forward dividend yield of 2.97 is still compelling if we consider that the industry median stands at 0.95%.
The 52-week range is $163.31 to $210.19 per share.
The stock has a price-book ratio of 8.83, a price-sales ratio of 5.80 and a price-earnings ratio of 52.40.
The forward price-earnings ratio is 13.35 versus an industry median of 28.41. Analysts are forecasting net earnings of $3.28 per share for the final quarter of 2018 and $14.25 for the entire year. Total revenue for the quarter is expected to increase 1% to $5.86 billion and 2.3% to $23.4 billion for the full year.
The average target price is $204.52 per share; the recommendation rating is 2.3 out of 5.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any securities mentioned in this article.
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