Norges Bank Takes $355.57 Million Position in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,325,199 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $355,569,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BIIB. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Biogen by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,748,875 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,561,238,000 after acquiring an additional 70,368 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Biogen by 3.5% in the third 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. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Biogen by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,613,020 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $698,062,000 after buying an additional 47,055 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Biogen by 13,574.7% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,667,531 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $407,919,000 after buying an additional 2,648,024 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in Biogen by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,216,990 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $183,461,000 after buying an additional 319,478 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Biogen from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Biogen from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Biogen from $281.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Biogen in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Biogen from $192.00 to $157.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $213.33.

Insider Transactions at Biogen

In other news, Director Stephen A. Sherwin sold 8,760 shares of Biogen stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.02, for a total value of $1,314,175.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,697,926.36. The trade was a 43.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Biogen Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Biogen stock opened at $138.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $20.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.37, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.01. Biogen Inc. has a 1 year low of $128.51 and a 1 year high of $238.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $141.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $159.97.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The biotechnology company reported $3.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.01. Biogen had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 16.87%. Analysts forecast that Biogen Inc. will post 15.83 earnings per share 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.