Biogen Inc. $BIIB Stock: Candriam S.C.A. Raises Stake

Candriam S.C.A. boosted its position in shares of Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 412,472 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 28,146 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A. owned 0.28% of Biogen worth $93,510,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BIIB. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Biogen in the second quarter valued at $3,453,878,000. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new stake in shares of Biogen in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,274,304,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Biogen by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,117,469 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $673,560,000 after purchasing an additional 155,828 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in shares of Biogen by 139.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,039,056 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $460,582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187,237 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Biogen by 91.8% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,516,831 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $327,727,000 after purchasing an additional 726,004 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Biogen in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Biogen from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Zacks Research upgraded Biogen from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Biogen in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Biogen from $256.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $252.34.

Biogen Trading Up 1.8%

NASDAQ BIIB opened at $248.35 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $230.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $203.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $36.71 billion, a PE ratio of 106.13, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.10. Biogen Inc. has a 12 month low of $151.83 and a 12 month high of $258.78.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The biotechnology company reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.63. Biogen had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 9.38%. The company had revenue of $2.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.81 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Biogen Inc. will post 12.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Biogen Profile

Biogen is a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for neurological and rare diseases. Its areas of focus include multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, spinal muscular atrophy and Friedreich’s ataxia.

Its products include multiple sclerosis treatments such as Tysabri, Tecfidera and Vumerity, and Skyclarys for Friedreich’s ataxia. Biogen shares rights to several medicines with other companies, including Leqembi for Alzheimer’s disease with Eisai and Spinraza for spinal muscular atrophy with Ionis Pharmaceuticals.

Founded in 1978, Biogen is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and serves patients and healthcare providers in the United States and international markets.