Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Cuts Position in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System decreased its position in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,064 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 240 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Biogen were worth $1,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Biogen by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,092 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in Biogen by 31.9% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 298 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in Biogen by 25.0% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 385 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Biogen by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 337 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Biogen by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,018 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $767,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on BIIB shares. HC Wainwright dropped their price target on shares of Biogen from $300.00 to $241.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Biogen in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $178.00 price target on shares of Biogen in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Biogen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 28th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Biogen from $298.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Biogen has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $213.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen A. Sherwin sold 8,760 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,697,926.36. This represents a 43.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Biogen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BIIB opened at $140.90 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $162.11. Biogen Inc. has a one year low of $128.51 and a one year high of $238.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.59, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.01.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last announced 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 net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 14.98%. On average, analysts predict that Biogen Inc. will post 15.83 EPS 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.