Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) saw a significant decrease in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,580,000 shares, a decrease of 5.1% from the November 30th total of 2,720,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,520,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Biogen Price Performance

Shares of BIIB stock opened at $150.19 on Tuesday. Biogen has a twelve month low of $145.07 and a twelve month high of $268.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of -0.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $191.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

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 company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Biogen had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 16.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.36 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Biogen will post 16.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Biogen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $250.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Biogen from $270.00 to $255.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Biogen in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. 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 note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Biogen from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $242.68.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Biogen

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in Biogen by 0.7% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 16,338,294 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,787,543,000 after acquiring an additional 117,578 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Biogen by 3.5% in the third 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Biogen by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,613,020 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $698,062,000 after purchasing an additional 47,055 shares during the period. RA Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Biogen by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,184,456 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $229,595,000 after buying an additional 202,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Biogen by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,152,691 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $223,438,000 after buying an additional 18,905 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.93% of the company’s stock.

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.