Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Ve Gananot Havera Menahelet LTD Buys New Position in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB)

Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Ve Gananot Havera Menahelet LTD bought a new stake in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 54,585 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,340,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BIIB. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Biogen by 3.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 168,631 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,687,000 after purchasing an additional 5,270 shares in the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP bought a new position in Biogen during the third quarter valued at approximately $241,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Biogen during the third quarter valued at approximately $830,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Biogen during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Biogen by 73.8% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 219 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. 87.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on BIIB shares. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Biogen in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of 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 reduced their price target on shares of Biogen from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. HC Wainwright cut their target price on shares of Biogen from $300.00 to $241.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $178.00 target price on shares of Biogen in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $213.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen A. Sherwin sold 8,760 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 11,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,697,926.36. This represents a 43.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Biogen Trading Down 4.7 %

Shares of BIIB opened at $143.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Biogen Inc. has a 1 year low of $128.51 and a 1 year high of $238.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $143.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.37. The firm has a market cap of $21.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.01.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The biotechnology company reported $3.44 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Biogen Inc. will post 15.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.