Wolfe Research Initiates Coverage on Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB)

Investment analysts at Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set a "peer perform" rating on the biotechnology company's stock.

BIIB has been the subject of several other reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Biogen in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $292.00 price target on shares of Biogen in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup started coverage on Biogen in a research note on Thursday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Biogen from $275.00 to $244.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Biogen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 2nd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Biogen presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $258.96.

Biogen Trading Down 3.0 %

BIIB traded down $4.90 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $159.99. 1,916,644 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,169,550. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Biogen has a 52 week low of $159.60 and a 52 week high of $268.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of -0.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $186.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.77.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Biogen had a net margin of 16.81% and a return on equity of 14.98%. Biogen's quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.36 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Biogen will post 16.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Biogen news, insider Priya Singhal sold 431 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.22, for a total transaction of $88,018.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,085,633.52. This trade represents a 7.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Biogen by 15.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,570,398 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,573,075,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163,068 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Biogen by 19,722.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 358,992 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $695,870,000 after acquiring an additional 357,181 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in shares of Biogen by 2,715.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 316,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $61,253,000 after acquiring an additional 304,778 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in Biogen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $55,826,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Biogen by 3.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,344,960 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,423,747,000 after buying an additional 248,942 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.93% of the company's stock.

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.