Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) Stake Increased by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) by 108.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,912 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,743 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Biogen were worth $2,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FORA Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Biogen by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 19,486 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,980,000 after purchasing an additional 1,786 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Biogen by 63.7% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,169,570 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $178,851,000 after buying an additional 455,285 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Biogen by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,391 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $671,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its stake in Biogen by 9,300.0% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 188 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Biogen by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,269 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,029,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Biogen

In other Biogen news, Director Stephen A. Sherwin sold 8,760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.02, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Biogen Price Performance

Shares of Biogen stock opened at $118.20 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.11. Biogen Inc. has a twelve month low of $110.04 and a twelve month high of $238.00. The firm has a market cap of $17.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.12.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The biotechnology company reported $3.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by ($0.24). Biogen had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Biogen Inc. will post 15.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on BIIB shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Biogen from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. HSBC lowered Biogen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $118.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, April 28th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Biogen in a research note on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Biogen from $219.00 to $197.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Biogen from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $191.30.

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.