UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Upgrades Amgen to Overweight on Continued Upside

Piper Jaffray upgraded its rating on Amgen AMGN from Neutral to Overweight and increased its price target from $77 to $95. Piper Jaffray commented, "We are upgrading AMGN to OW from Neutral and raising our price target to $95 from $77 following 2Q earnings that provided strong evidence of stabilization of the company's base businesses. In addition, the company announced advancement of three products into Phase III trials, two of which could be potential blockbusters (AMG145 and AMG785), that should drive long term growth. This combined with renewed fiscal discipline and willingness to increase dividend yield in line with major pharmaceutical companies should enable AMGN shares to continue to outperform." Amgen closed at $77.96 on Thursday.