Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Purchases New Position in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 171 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Biogen in the third quarter valued at about $830,000. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Biogen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $241,000. AIA Group Ltd increased its holdings in Biogen by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 1,411 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Biogen by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 168,631 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,687,000 after purchasing an additional 5,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Biogen by 62.3% in the third quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 685 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. 87.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BIIB shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Biogen from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Biogen in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Biogen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 2nd. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Biogen from $275.00 to $244.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Biogen from $277.00 to $251.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $258.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at Biogen

In other news, insider Priya Singhal sold 431 shares of Biogen stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.22, for a total value of $88,018.82. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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 at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Biogen Price Performance

Shares of BIIB opened at $164.89 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $187.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $208.07. Biogen Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.35 and a 52-week high of $268.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.03 billion, a PE ratio of 14.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of -0.06.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Biogen had a net margin of 16.81% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.36 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Biogen Inc. will post 16.4 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.