Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Position in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) by 17.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 37,221 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,627 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Biogen were worth $5,692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BIIB. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Biogen by 640.9% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 163 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Biogen in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Biogen in the third quarter worth $33,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Biogen during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Biogen during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. 87.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BIIB shares. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $178.00 price target on shares of Biogen in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Biogen from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Biogen from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 price objective (down from $138.00) on shares of Biogen in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut 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 research note on Monday, December 9th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $213.33.

Biogen Price Performance

Shares of BIIB stock opened at $140.19 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.35. Biogen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $128.51 and a fifty-two week high of $238.00. The firm has a market cap of $20.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.01. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $143.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $165.20.

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

Insider Activity at Biogen

In other Biogen news, Director Stephen A. Sherwin sold 8,760 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,318 shares in the company, valued at $1,697,926.36. This trade represents a 43.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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.