Citigroup Upgrades Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) to Hold

Citigroup upgraded shares of Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $292.00 target price on shares of Biogen in a research report on Monday, September 9th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Biogen from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Biogen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered Biogen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $285.00 to $204.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wedbush reduced their price objective on Biogen from $210.00 to $205.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Twelve equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $258.96.

Biogen Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BIIB opened at $159.99 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.31 billion, a PE ratio of 14.78, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of -0.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Biogen has a 1 year low of $159.60 and a 1 year high of $268.30. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.77.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last issued its quarterly 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. Biogen had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 16.81%. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Biogen will post 16.4 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Biogen

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BIIB. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Biogen by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 168,631 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,687,000 after buying an additional 5,270 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Biogen by 34.3% during the third 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 during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Biogen by 235.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,860 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,204,000 after purchasing an additional 10,425 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new position in shares of Biogen in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,856,000. Finally, National Pension Service increased its stake in Biogen by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 359,569 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $69,699,000 after purchasing an additional 32,914 shares in the last quarter. 87.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Biogen Company Profile

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.