Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) Stock Position Lowered by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC lowered its position in shares of Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) by 82.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,712 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 17,495 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Biogen were worth $568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Biogen in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Biogen by 640.9% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 163 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Biogen during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Biogen in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of Biogen by 63.8% during the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 231 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. 87.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BIIB. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Biogen in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Biogen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $175.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Biogen from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 price objective (down from $138.00) on shares of Biogen in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Biogen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $250.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $213.33.

Biogen Stock Down 1.7 %

Biogen stock opened at $139.16 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $141.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $160.95. The firm has a market cap of $20.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.01. Biogen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $128.51 and a fifty-two week high of $238.00.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The biotechnology company reported $3.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.01. Biogen had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 16.87%. As a group, analysts forecast that Biogen Inc. will post 15.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stephen A. Sherwin sold 8,760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.02, for a total transaction of $1,314,175.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,318 shares in the company, valued at $1,697,926.36. The trade was a 43.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.