National Pension Service Increases Holdings in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB)

National Pension Service increased its stake in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 302,317 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,375 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Biogen were worth $78,231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Biogen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Biogen during the third quarter valued at $28,000. KB Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in Biogen by 105.1% in the 3rd quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC now owns 121 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Biogen by 76.1% during the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 118 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Biogen in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 87.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Biogen Stock Performance

BIIB stock traded up $2.20 during trading on Thursday, reaching $221.92. The company had a trading volume of 232,787 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,191,193. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 2.10. Biogen Inc. has a twelve month low of $189.44 and a twelve month high of $319.76. The company has a market cap of $32.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of -0.01. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $211.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $231.09.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.45 by $0.22. Biogen had a net margin of 12.07% and a return on equity of 14.83%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Biogen Inc. will post 15.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BIIB. HC Wainwright decreased their price target on shares of Biogen from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Biogen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $315.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered Biogen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Bank Of America (Bofa) lowered their price objective on shares of Biogen from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Biogen from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Biogen currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $290.92.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Eric K. Rowinsky bought 455 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $222.54 per share, with a total value of $101,255.70. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 20,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,590,777.66. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Biogen news, insider Priya Singhal sold 419 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.45, for a total transaction of $100,329.55. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,081,356.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Eric K. Rowinsky acquired 455 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $222.54 per share, with a total value of $101,255.70. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 20,629 shares in the company, valued at $4,590,777.66. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 882 shares of company stock valued at $202,030. Company insiders own 0.60% 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.