HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 3,047 Shares of Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) by 26.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,385 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 3,047 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Biogen were worth $1,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BIIB. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Biogen by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,344,960 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,423,747,000 after purchasing an additional 248,942 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Biogen by 1.3% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Biogen by 13,574.7% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,667,531 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $407,919,000 after buying an additional 2,648,024 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of Biogen by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,216,990 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $183,461,000 after acquiring an additional 319,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RA Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Biogen by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,184,456 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $229,595,000 after acquiring an additional 202,317 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.93% of the company’s stock.

Biogen Price Performance

NASDAQ:BIIB opened at $139.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.44, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $160.95. Biogen Inc. has a 1 year low of $128.51 and a 1 year high of $238.00.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The biotechnology company reported $3.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.01. Biogen had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 14.98%. Equities analysts forecast that Biogen Inc. will post 15.83 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on BIIB. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Biogen in a report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Biogen from $281.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Biogen from $244.00 to $224.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Biogen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $175.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, HC Wainwright cut their price objective on Biogen from $300.00 to $241.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $213.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Biogen news, Director Stephen A. Sherwin sold 8,760 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,697,926.36. This trade represents a 43.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.