Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) by 62.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,083 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 3,430 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Biogen were worth $319,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Biogen during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Biogen by 73.8% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 219 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its position in Biogen by 63.8% during the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 231 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Biogen by 228.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 401 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Biogen during the third quarter worth about $74,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Biogen in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Biogen from $234.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Biogen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $204.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Biogen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Biogen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $230.00 to $164.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Biogen presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.00.

Biogen Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BIIB opened at $140.98 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.74, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of -0.07. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $153.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $183.67. Biogen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.05 and a fifty-two week high of $252.17.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Biogen had a net margin of 16.81% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.36 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Biogen Inc. will post 16.41 EPS for the current year.

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.