Royal Bank of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) Stock Price

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB - Free Report) had its price target hoisted by Royal Bank of Canada from $221.00 to $225.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the biotechnology company's stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on BIIB. HC Wainwright decreased their price objective on shares of Biogen from $300.00 to $241.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Biogen from $157.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com lowered Biogen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, December 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Biogen from $281.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Biogen in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $211.37.

Biogen Trading Down 1.3 %

BIIB stock traded down $1.56 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $117.95. 162,751 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,348,136. Biogen has a one year low of $110.04 and a one year high of $238.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $17.26 billion, a PE ratio of 10.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.06. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $132.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $149.83.

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

Insider Transactions at Biogen

In related news, Director Stephen A. Sherwin sold 8,760 shares of Biogen stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.02, for a total transaction of $1,314,175.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,318 shares of the company's stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Biogen by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,748,875 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,561,238,000 after purchasing an additional 70,368 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Biogen by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,695,476 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $563,709,000 after buying an additional 82,456 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Biogen by 13,574.7% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,667,531 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $407,919,000 after acquiring an additional 2,648,024 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Biogen during the 4th quarter valued at $355,569,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Biogen by 30.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,128,807 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $325,537,000 after acquiring an additional 499,074 shares during the period. 87.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.