Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ:NBIX) Given “Overweight” Rating at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ:NBIX) in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has a $150.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $185.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on NBIX. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Neurocrine Biosciences from $184.00 to $179.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Neurocrine Biosciences from $162.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of Neurocrine Biosciences from $172.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Neurocrine Biosciences from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Neurocrine Biosciences from $165.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.24.

Neurocrine Biosciences Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Neurocrine Biosciences stock opened at $113.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.27 billion, a PE ratio of 34.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. Neurocrine Biosciences has a 12-month low of $110.25 and a 12-month high of $157.98. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $132.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.02.

Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ:NBIX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.62). Neurocrine Biosciences had a return on equity of 13.38% and a net margin of 14.49%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Neurocrine Biosciences will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Neurocrine Biosciences announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, February 21st that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Neurocrine Biosciences

In other news, Director Kevin Charles Gorman sold 146,105 shares of Neurocrine Biosciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.46, for a total value of $21,836,853.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 514,596 shares in the company, valued at $76,911,518.16. The trade was a 22.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ingrid Delaet sold 272 shares of Neurocrine Biosciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.10, for a total transaction of $37,563.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $346,216.70. This represents a 9.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 234,269 shares of company stock worth $34,053,879. 4.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Neurocrine Biosciences

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Neurocrine Biosciences by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $575,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Neurocrine Biosciences by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Neurocrine Biosciences by 73.5% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 229 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in Neurocrine Biosciences by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 28,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,836,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Utah Retirement Systems grew its position in Neurocrine Biosciences by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 16,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,264,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. 92.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Neurocrine Biosciences Company Profile

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc discovers, develops, and markets pharmaceuticals for neurological, neuroendocrine, and neuropsychiatric disorders in the United States and internationally. The company’s products include INGREZZA for tardive dyskinesia and chorea associated with Huntington’s disease; ALKINDI for adrenal insufficiency; Efmody capsules for classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia; Orilissa tablets for endometriosis; and Oriahnn capsules to treat uterine fibroids.