Morgan Stanley Cuts Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) Price Target to $144.00

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) had its price target trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $144.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

BIIB has been the topic of a number of other reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on shares of Biogen from $265.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. HSBC cut shares of Biogen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $118.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Biogen from $207.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Biogen from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Biogen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $185.63.

Biogen Stock Up 3.1%

Shares of Biogen stock opened at $131.95 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $19.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.50. Biogen has a one year low of $110.04 and a one year high of $213.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $129.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $131.69.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The biotechnology company reported $5.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $1.54. Biogen had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.28 EPS. Biogen’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Biogen will post 15.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Biogen

In other news, insider Rachid Izzar sold 2,223 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.00, for a total transaction of $300,105.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,330 shares in the company, valued at $854,550. This represents a 25.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BIIB. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Biogen by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 6,846 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after buying an additional 754 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Biogen by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 180,723 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $27,636,000 after buying an additional 1,592 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Biogen by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 394,391 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $60,310,000 after buying an additional 19,644 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Biogen by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,934 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Biogen by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,695,476 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $563,709,000 after buying an additional 82,456 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.93% of the company’s stock.

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.