Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) Trading Down 6.8% on Analyst Downgrade

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) shares were down 6.8% during trading on Wednesday after Bank Of America (Bofa) lowered their price target on the stock from $178.00 to $163.00. Bank Of America (Bofa) currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Biogen traded as low as $128.51 and last traded at $129.86. Approximately 973,287 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 24% from the average daily volume of 1,281,038 shares. The stock had previously closed at $139.39.

A number of other research firms have also commented on BIIB. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Biogen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Stifel Nicolaus cut Biogen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $175.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, December 16th. BMO Capital Markets cut Biogen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $230.00 to $164.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $178.00 target price on shares of Biogen in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Biogen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 28th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $221.65.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BIIB. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its position in shares of Biogen by 58.5% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 10,900 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,113,000 after buying an additional 4,025 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Biogen by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 43,460 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,646,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Biogen by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC now owns 51,530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $7,880,000 after purchasing an additional 3,698 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Biogen by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 913,029 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $176,982,000 after purchasing an additional 12,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Biogen by 3.2% in the 3rd 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.93% of the company’s stock.

Biogen Stock Down 6.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $19.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.79, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of -0.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $148.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The biotechnology company reported $3.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.01. Biogen had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 16.81%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Biogen Inc. will post 16.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.