Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) Short Interest Update

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,700,000 shares, a drop of 13.5% from the October 31st total of 3,120,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,350,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on BIIB. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $292.00 target price on shares of Biogen in a report on Monday, September 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Biogen from $292.00 to $269.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Biogen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 2nd. 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Biogen from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Biogen currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.20.

Biogen Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of BIIB traded up $0.80 during trading on Monday, reaching $160.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,109,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,185,000. The company has a fifty day moving average of $177.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $202.76. The company has a market cap of $23.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of -0.06. Biogen has a twelve month low of $153.62 and a twelve month high of $268.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Biogen had a net margin of 16.81% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.36 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Biogen will post 16.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Biogen

In related news, insider Priya Singhal sold 431 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 5,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,085,633.52. This represents a 7.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Biogen

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $695,870,000 after purchasing an additional 357,181 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of Biogen by 2,715.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 316,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $61,253,000 after buying an additional 304,778 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of Biogen during the third quarter valued at approximately $55,826,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Biogen by 3.5% during 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. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in shares of Biogen by 122.1% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 427,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $82,886,000 after purchasing an additional 235,100 shares during the period. 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.