Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms “Hold” Rating for Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB)

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reissued by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on BIIB. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Biogen from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Biogen from $217.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Biogen from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Biogen from $219.00 to $197.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Biogen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $191.30.

Biogen Stock Down 1.8%

Biogen stock opened at $133.06 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.14. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $123.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.95. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $110.04 and a fifty-two week high of $238.00.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The biotechnology company reported $3.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by ($0.24). Biogen had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 16.87%. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Biogen will post 15.83 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Biogen during the fourth quarter worth $355,569,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Biogen by 977.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,066,460 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $163,083,000 after buying an additional 967,523 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Biogen by 153.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,368,842 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $187,258,000 after buying an additional 829,150 shares during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd raised its holdings in Biogen by 1,663.4% in the 1st quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 780,567 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $106,813,000 after acquiring an additional 736,301 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Biogen by 30.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,128,807 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $325,537,000 after acquiring an additional 499,074 shares during the last quarter. 87.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.