UPDATE: Nomura Upgrades Amgen

Earlier Monday morning, Nomura Equity Research upgraded shares of Amgen, Inc.

from Neutral to Buy and raised the price target from $144 to $193. The firm noted its upgrade is based on a "significantly improved' long-term outlook due to additional cost cutting tactics. The firm says this should lead to an almost 15 point improvement in operating margins by 2018 as well as drive double-digit EPS growth. The firm commented, " The key to our upgrade is the ability of the company's biosimilar portfolio to offset erosion of its base business, enabling its pipeline to drive growth beyond 2018."