Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-four research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $202.05.

NBIX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Neurocrine Biosciences from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Neurocrine Biosciences from $188.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research lowered Neurocrine Biosciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings cut Neurocrine Biosciences from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Neurocrine Biosciences from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ingrid Delaet sold 8,433 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.72, for a total transaction of $1,507,145.76. Following the sale, the insider owned 16,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,899,732. This represents a 34.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider David W. Boyer sold 826 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.45, for a total transaction of $130,053.70. Following the transaction, the insider owned 8,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,373,278.90. This trade represents a 8.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,187 shares of company stock worth $4,814,516. 4.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Neurocrine Biosciences

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Neurocrine Biosciences during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,310,886,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Neurocrine Biosciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $162,664,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Neurocrine Biosciences in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $117,827,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Neurocrine Biosciences in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $107,914,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Neurocrine Biosciences during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $104,382,000. 92.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Neurocrine Biosciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NBIX opened at $145.51 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $153.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.07. Neurocrine Biosciences has a fifty-two week low of $122.14 and a fifty-two week high of $186.12.

Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ:NBIX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $1.20. The company had revenue of $959.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $891.16 million. Neurocrine Biosciences had a net margin of 20.91% and a return on equity of 22.43%. Neurocrine Biosciences’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Neurocrine Biosciences will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Neurocrine Biosciences Company Profile

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing medicines for neurological, neuroendocrine and related disorders. The company is headquartered in San Diego, California, and conducts research through internal programs and collaborations with academic institutions and other pharmaceutical companies.

Neurocrine’s principal commercial product is INGREZZA (valbenazine), a vesicular monoamine transporter 2 inhibitor used to treat tardive dyskinesia and chorea associated with Huntington’s disease.