Wall Street is out in force this morning, supporting Amgen (AMGN: scorecard, quote, chart) . As Mark Fightmaster reported earlier this morning in Early Edge, the company "announced that late-stage clinical trial results indicated that denosumab reduced the occurrence of fractured vertebrae in post-menopausal women. Serious side effects to the drug include back and joint pain, hypertension, and inflamed nasal passages which were similar to the effects seen in a placebo injection. Denosumab is seen by some as a future blockbuster' for AMGN."

As a result, the stock has seen a flurry of brokerage rating activity.

• Morgan Joseph started coverage of AMGN with a "buy" rating
• Jefferies upgraded the shares to "buy" and lifted its price target from $47 to $71
• Morgan Stanley lifted the shares to "overweight"
• Goldman Sachs lifted its price target from $63 to "$74
• Thomas Weisel lifted the stock to "overweight"
• Rodman & Renshaw upgraded the shares to "market outperform"<.li>

The security is up more than 14% this morning and has tagged a fresh annual high of $62.50.

Looking ahead, AMGN is slated to announce earnings this afternoon following the close. According to Thomson Financial, analysts expect a profit of $1.02 per share, which is down from its year-ago profit of $1.12 per share. Historically, the firm has surpassed the consensus estimate in each of the past 4 quarters.