Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) by 3.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 168,631 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,270 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Biogen worth $32,687,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BIIB. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted 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 valued at $2,113,000 after buying an additional 4,025 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Biogen by 1.4% in the third 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. Arlington Partners LLC grew its position in Biogen by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Arlington Partners LLC now owns 19,214 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,724,000 after purchasing an additional 4,902 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in Biogen by 1,107.5% during the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 11,218 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after buying an additional 10,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Biogen by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 359,569 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $69,699,000 after buying an additional 32,914 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Biogen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Biogen from $251.00 to $207.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Biogen from $270.00 to $255.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets cut Biogen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $230.00 to $164.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Biogen from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.68.

Biogen Price Performance

NASDAQ BIIB opened at $149.38 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $21.77 billion, a PE ratio of 13.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of -0.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $167.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $195.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.26. Biogen Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.07 and a 52-week high of $268.30.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Biogen had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 16.81%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.36 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Biogen Inc. will post 16.43 EPS for the current fiscal 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.