Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) Shares Purchased by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB - Free Report) by 20.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 79,952 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 13,652 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP owned about 0.05% of Biogen worth $12,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its stake in shares of Biogen by 58.5% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 10,900 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,113,000 after acquiring an additional 4,025 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Biogen by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 43,460 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $6,646,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Amundi grew its stake in Biogen by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,216,990 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $183,461,000 after purchasing an additional 319,478 shares in the last quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Biogen by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC now owns 51,530 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $7,880,000 after purchasing an additional 3,698 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Biogen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $407,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.93% of the company's stock.

Biogen Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BIIB traded down $0.67 during trading on Friday, reaching $118.84. The stock had a trading volume of 1,538,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,353,411. Biogen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $110.04 and a fifty-two week high of $238.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $132.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $149.83. The stock has a market cap of $17.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.62, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The biotechnology company reported $3.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.01. Biogen had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 16.87%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Biogen Inc. will post 15.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Stephen A. Sherwin sold 8,760 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.02, for a total transaction of $1,314,175.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,697,926.36. The trade was a 43.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BIIB. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Biogen from $156.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Biogen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, December 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Biogen from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Biogen from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on Biogen from $244.00 to $224.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $211.37.

Biogen Company 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.