Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB)

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

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BIIB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Biogen by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,570,398 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,573,075,000 after acquiring an additional 2,163,068 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Biogen by 19,722.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 358,992 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $695,870,000 after buying an additional 357,181 shares in the last quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Biogen by 39.0% in the first quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 740,727 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $159,723,000 after purchasing an additional 207,835 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of Biogen by 27.2% in the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 570,533 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $123,024,000 after buying an additional 122,101 shares during the period. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA raised its position in shares of Biogen by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 16,338,294 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,787,543,000 after buying an additional 117,578 shares during the period. 87.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Biogen

In other news, insider Priya Singhal sold 431 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,085,633.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Biogen Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Biogen stock opened at $172.03 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $189.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $208.87. Biogen Inc. has a 12-month low of $170.71 and a 12-month high of $268.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $25.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of -0.06.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.31. Biogen had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 16.81%. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Biogen Inc. will post 16.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BIIB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Biogen from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Biogen in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Biogen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $285.00 to $204.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of Biogen from $210.00 to $205.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Biogen in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $261.58.

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.