Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Raises Holdings in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) by 27.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 261,162 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 56,132 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in Biogen were worth $39,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BIIB. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Biogen by 13,574.7% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,667,531 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $407,919,000 after purchasing an additional 2,648,024 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Biogen in the 4th quarter valued at about $355,569,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Biogen by 977.9% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,066,460 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $163,083,000 after purchasing an additional 967,523 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Biogen by 30.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,128,807 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $325,537,000 after purchasing an additional 499,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in Biogen by 98.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 757,570 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $115,848,000 after purchasing an additional 376,356 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.93% of the company’s stock.

Biogen Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of Biogen stock opened at $118.61 on Friday. Biogen Inc. has a 1 year low of $110.04 and a 1 year high of $238.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $134.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.69. The company has a market cap of $17.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.60, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The biotechnology company reported $3.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts expect that Biogen Inc. will post 15.83 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BIIB. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $135.00 price target (down from $138.00) on shares of Biogen in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank Of America (Bofa) dropped their price target on Biogen from $178.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Biogen from $156.00 to $139.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Biogen from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, HC Wainwright lowered their price objective on shares of Biogen from $300.00 to $241.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Eighteen 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 company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $213.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Stephen A. Sherwin sold 8,760 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 11,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,697,926.36. This represents a 43.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Biogen 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.