Amgen maintained at neutral by Merrill

Amgen Inc. was maintained by Merrill Lynch analyst Eric Ende at neutral. Merrill updated its model to reflect $5 billion of newly issued convertible debt and approximately $4 billion of accelerated share buybacks. Due to lower share count and higher interest income, Merrill said it is raising its 2006 earnings-per-share estimate to $3.67 from $3.61, its 2007 earnings-per-share estimate to $4.07 from $4.01 and its 2008 earnings-per-share estimate to $4.70 from $4.63. Shares of the Thousand Oaks, Calif., biotechnology company were up $1.00, or 1.37%, at $73.97 on volume of 12,350,369 shares versus the three-month running average of 9,789,840 shares. (Nasdaq: AMGN)

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