Prudential Financial Inc. Acquires 152,992 Shares of Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB)

Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) by 36.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 576,276 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 152,992 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Biogen were worth $88,124,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BIIB. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Biogen by 640.9% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 163 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Biogen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Biogen during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Biogen in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Biogen during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. 87.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on BIIB shares. Bank Of America (Bofa) decreased their price target on Biogen from $178.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Biogen from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Biogen in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on shares of Biogen from $298.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Biogen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $213.33.

Insider Transactions at Biogen

In other Biogen news, Director Stephen A. Sherwin sold 8,760 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.02, for a total transaction of $1,314,175.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,697,926.36. This represents a 43.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Biogen Price Performance

Biogen stock opened at $141.60 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.01. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $141.99 and its 200 day moving average is $161.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Biogen Inc. has a one year low of $128.51 and a one year high of $238.00.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The biotechnology company reported $3.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.01. Biogen had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 14.98%. As a group, research analysts expect that Biogen Inc. will post 15.83 EPS for the current year.

Biogen Company 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.