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

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) by 9.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,848 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,197 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Biogen were worth $5,760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Biogen by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,570,398 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,573,075,000 after buying an additional 2,163,068 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in Biogen by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 16,264,481 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,208,760,000 after acquiring an additional 251,915 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Biogen by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,737,340 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $374,623,000 after purchasing an additional 316,144 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Biogen by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,589,629 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $342,772,000 after purchasing an additional 81,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Biogen during the 4th quarter worth $378,728,000. 87.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on BIIB shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $292.00 target price on shares of Biogen in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Biogen from $275.00 to $244.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of Biogen from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $302.00 target price (down previously from $340.00) on shares of Biogen in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Biogen from $277.00 to $251.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Biogen presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.52.

Biogen Price Performance

Shares of BIIB opened at $199.09 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.86, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of -0.06. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $211.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $216.09. Biogen Inc. has a twelve month low of $189.44 and a twelve month high of $269.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.00 by $1.28. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. Biogen had a return on equity of 15.71% and a net margin of 11.98%. Biogen’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.02 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Biogen Inc. will post 16.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Priya Singhal sold 431 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was 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 owns 5,316 shares in the company, valued at $1,085,633.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.