Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) Earns Neutral Rating from Analysts at Citigroup

Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $190.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Citigroup’s target price suggests a potential upside of 18.76% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Biogen from $316.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Biogen from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wedbush reduced their price target on shares of Biogen from $210.00 to $205.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Biogen from $234.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Biogen from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Biogen currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $258.96.

Biogen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BIIB opened at $159.99 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $23.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.78, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of -0.06. Biogen has a twelve month low of $159.60 and a twelve month high of $268.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a 50 day moving average of $186.80 and a 200 day moving average of $207.77.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 14.98% and a net margin of 16.81%. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.36 earnings per share. Biogen’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Biogen will post 16.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Biogen news, insider Priya Singhal sold 431 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 5,316 shares in the company, valued at $1,085,633.52. This trade represents a 7.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Biogen

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its position in Biogen by 82.8% during 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 period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Biogen during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Biogen in the third quarter worth $33,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Biogen during the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Biogen by 123.2% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 154 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. 87.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.