Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,250,000 shares, a growth of 26.5% from the February 28th total of 2,570,000 shares. Approximately 3.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 926,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on REGN shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Regeneron Pharmaceuticals from $1,050.00 to $900.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Regeneron Pharmaceuticals from $1,230.00 to $1,030.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group lowered shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $1,130.00 to $738.00 in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Regeneron Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised Regeneron Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $762.00 to $834.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $966.88.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,736,929 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,373,859,000 after acquiring an additional 1,390,534 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $802,036,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals by 63.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,085,447 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,485,527,000 after acquiring an additional 810,144 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals by 45.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,551,735 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,138,074,000 after acquiring an additional 487,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its holdings in shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals by 33.4% in the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,575,349 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,122,168,000 after acquiring an additional 393,997 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.31% of the company’s stock.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

REGN stock traded up $8.60 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $625.60. 896,432 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 678,634. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $606.54 and a 52-week high of $1,211.20. The company has a market capitalization of $68.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 4.73 and a quick ratio of 3.95. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $681.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $788.06.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:REGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $12.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.21 by $0.86. The firm had revenue of $3.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.07% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $11.86 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Regeneron Pharmaceuticals will post 35.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.30%.

About Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc discovers, invents, develops, manufactures, and commercializes medicines for treating various diseases worldwide. The company's products include EYLEA injection to treat wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema; myopic choroidal neovascularization; diabetic retinopathy; neovascular glaucoma; and retinopathy of prematurity.