Short Interest in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) Rises By 7.7%

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) was the target of a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,070,000 shares, a growth of 7.7% from the September 30th total of 2,850,000 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,110,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BIIB shares. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Biogen from $335.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Biogen from $292.00 to $269.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Biogen from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Biogen from $234.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price target on Biogen from $210.00 to $205.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $263.39.

Biogen Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ BIIB traded down $4.80 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $176.38. 697,048 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,127,460. The company’s fifty day moving average is $193.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $209.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.29. Biogen has a fifty-two week low of $174.76 and a fifty-two week high of $268.30. The stock has a market cap of $25.68 billion, a PE ratio of 22.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of -0.06.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.31. Biogen had a return on equity of 15.71% and a net margin of 11.98%. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Biogen will post 16.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Priya Singhal sold 431 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.22, for a total transaction of $88,018.82. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,085,633.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Biogen by 82.8% in the first quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 117 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Biogen during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Biogen in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Biogen by 123.2% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 154 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Biogen by 249.0% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 178 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.93% of the company’s stock.

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.