Needham & Company LLC Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB)

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $270.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on BIIB. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Biogen from $277.00 to $251.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Biogen in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Biogen from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Biogen from $316.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Biogen from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Biogen has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.83.

Biogen Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BIIB opened at $173.79 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of -0.06. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $209.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.48. Biogen has a 1 year low of $173.14 and a 1 year high of $268.30.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $4.08 earnings per share 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 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 revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.36 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Biogen will post 16.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Biogen

In related news, insider Priya Singhal sold 431 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.22, for a total transaction of $88,018.82. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,316 shares in the company, valued at $1,085,633.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Biogen

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BIIB. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Biogen by 82.8% in the first quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 117 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Biogen in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Biogen in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Biogen by 123.2% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 154 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Biogen by 249.0% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 178 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in 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.