Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) by 24.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,479 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 6,600 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Biogen were worth $5,299,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Biogen by 16.4% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,294 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $693,000 after buying an additional 464 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its stake in Biogen by 39.9% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 15,244 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,210,000 after acquiring an additional 4,349 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Biogen by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,720,584 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,468,356,000 after acquiring an additional 183,285 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Biogen by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 89,722 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $18,896,000 after purchasing an additional 11,882 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Biogen by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 5,938 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BIIB. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Biogen from $250.00 to $214.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Biogen from $333.00 to $316.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Biogen from $270.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Biogen from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Biogen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Priya Singhal sold 262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.23, for a total value of $57,962.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,080,929.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Eric K. Rowinsky bought 455 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $222.54 per share, for a total transaction of $101,255.70. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 20,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,590,777.66. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Priya Singhal sold 262 shares of Biogen stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.23, for a total value of $57,962.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,080,929.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 882 shares of company stock valued at $202,030. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Biogen Stock Performance

Shares of BIIB stock opened at $194.38 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $215.23 and a 200 day moving average of $235.83. Biogen Inc. has a 1 year low of $189.44 and a 1 year high of $319.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of -0.02.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The biotechnology company reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by ($0.23). Biogen had a net margin of 11.81% and a return on equity of 14.91%. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.05 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Biogen Inc. will post 15.47 earnings per share for the current 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.