Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators Increases Stock Position in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB)

Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its position in shares of Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ holdings in Biogen were worth $247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Biogen by 13,574.7% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,667,531 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $407,919,000 after acquiring an additional 2,648,024 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Biogen by 977.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,066,460 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $163,083,000 after purchasing an additional 967,523 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in Biogen by 2,715.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 316,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $61,253,000 after purchasing an additional 304,778 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in Biogen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,826,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Biogen by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,344,960 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,423,747,000 after purchasing an additional 248,942 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BIIB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Biogen in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Biogen from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on shares of Biogen from $298.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank Of America (Bofa) lowered their price objective on Biogen from $178.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Biogen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 28th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Biogen has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $211.85.

Biogen Stock Performance

Shares of BIIB stock opened at $140.64 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $145.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $171.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of -0.08. Biogen Inc. has a 12-month low of $128.51 and a 12-month high of $238.00.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The biotechnology company reported $3.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.01. Biogen had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 16.87%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Biogen Inc. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

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.