Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) Coverage Initiated at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) in a research report report published on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a peer perform rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Biogen from $275.00 to $244.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Biogen from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Biogen from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Biogen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $285.00 to $204.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Biogen from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Biogen presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $258.96.

Biogen Price Performance

Biogen stock opened at $159.99 on Friday. Biogen has a 52-week low of $159.60 and a 52-week high of $268.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $185.99 and its 200 day moving average is $207.27. The company has a market cap of $23.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.45, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of -0.06.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Biogen had a net margin of 16.81% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The business’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.36 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Biogen will post 16.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Priya Singhal sold 431 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.22, for a total value of $88,018.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,085,633.52. The trade was a 7.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Biogen

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Biogen by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 168,631 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,687,000 after acquiring an additional 5,270 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Partners LLC boosted its stake in Biogen by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Arlington Partners LLC now owns 19,214 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,724,000 after purchasing an additional 4,902 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Biogen by 235.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,860 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,204,000 after purchasing an additional 10,425 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new position in shares of Biogen in the first quarter worth $1,856,000. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Biogen by 10.1% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 359,569 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $69,699,000 after buying an additional 32,914 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.93% of the company’s stock.

About Biogen

Biogen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers therapies for treating neurological and neurodegenerative diseases in the United States, Europe, Germany, Asia, and internationally. The company provides TECFIDERA, VUMERITY, AVONEX, PLEGRIDY, TYSABRI, and FAMPYRA for multiple sclerosis (MS); SPINRAZA for spinal muscular atrophy; ADUHELM to treat Alzheimer’s disease; FUMADERM to treat plaque psoriasis; BENEPALI, an etanercept biosimilar referencing ENBREL; IMRALDI, an adalimumab biosimilar referencing HUMIRA; FLIXABI, an infliximab biosimilar referencing REMICADE; and BYOOVIZ, a ranibizumab biosimilar referencing LUCENTIS.