Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:REGN) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:REGN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

REGN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals from $850.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals from $740.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $865.00 target price (up from $750.00) on shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Regeneron Pharmaceuticals from $745.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Evercore raised their price target on Regeneron Pharmaceuticals from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $802.27.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ REGN opened at $772.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 4.13 and a quick ratio of 3.39. The company has a market cap of $81.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $770.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $692.02. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $476.49 and a 1-year high of $821.11.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:REGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $11.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.74 by $0.70. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 13.04% and a net margin of 31.41%.The business had revenue of $3.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $12.07 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Regeneron Pharmaceuticals will post 35.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’s dividend payout ratio is 9.05%.

Insider Transactions at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Bonnie L. Bassler sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $800.00, for a total value of $1,200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,362,400. The trade was a 46.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Jason Pitofsky sold 2,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $778.52, for a total value of $1,585,066.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,325,837.44. This trade represents a 32.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 5,274 shares of company stock worth $4,142,738 over the last three months. 7.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 445 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC increased its stake in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC now owns 443 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 169 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 45 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rexford Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Rexford Capital Inc. now owns 288 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. 83.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: REGN) is a U.S.-based biotechnology company founded in 1988 and headquartered in Tarrytown, New York. It focuses on discovering, developing, manufacturing and commercializing medicines for serious medical conditions. The company combines laboratory research, clinical development and in-house manufacturing to advance a pipeline of biologic therapies across multiple therapeutic areas.

Regeneron is known for its proprietary drug discovery technologies, including its VelocImmune platform, which is used to generate fully human monoclonal antibodies.