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

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $285.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price suggests a potential upside of 50.74% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on BIIB. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Biogen from $335.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Biogen from $277.00 to $251.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Biogen from $275.00 to $244.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $302.00 price objective (down previously from $340.00) on shares of Biogen in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Biogen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.30.

Biogen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BIIB opened at $189.07 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $27.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of -0.06. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $206.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $214.61. Biogen has a fifty-two week low of $188.78 and a fifty-two week high of $269.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.00 by $1.28. Biogen had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 15.71%. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.02 EPS. Biogen’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Biogen will post 16.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Biogen

In related news, insider Priya Singhal sold 431 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,085,633.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Biogen

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Leo Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Biogen during the 4th quarter worth about $2,265,000. Duality Advisers LP bought a new position in Biogen during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,290,000. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Biogen by 924.4% in the first quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 46,200 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,962,000 after acquiring an additional 41,690 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in Biogen by 0.9% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 386,482 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $83,337,000 after acquiring an additional 3,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Biogen by 235.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,860 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,204,000 after purchasing an additional 10,425 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.