JPMorgan Chase & Co. Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ:NBIX) Stock

Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ:NBIX) had its target price lifted by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $183.00 to $184.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 61.40% from the stock’s current price.

NBIX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Neurocrine Biosciences from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Neurocrine Biosciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Neurocrine Biosciences from $162.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on Neurocrine Biosciences from $172.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wedbush dropped their price objective on Neurocrine Biosciences from $157.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $165.38.

Neurocrine Biosciences Price Performance

Neurocrine Biosciences stock opened at $114.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $124.77 and a 200-day moving average of $124.95. The company has a market cap of $11.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. Neurocrine Biosciences has a one year low of $105.18 and a one year high of $157.98.

Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ:NBIX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.62). Neurocrine Biosciences had a net margin of 14.49% and a return on equity of 13.38%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Neurocrine Biosciences will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Neurocrine Biosciences declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, February 21st that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Neurocrine Biosciences

In other Neurocrine Biosciences news, insider Ingrid Delaet sold 272 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.10, for a total transaction of $37,563.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,507 shares in the company, valued at $346,216.70. This represents a 9.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin Charles Gorman sold 5,844 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.69, for a total transaction of $681,936.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 521,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,867,604.42. This represents a 1.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 233,178 shares of company stock valued at $33,906,594. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Neurocrine Biosciences

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Neurocrine Biosciences by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $575,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Neurocrine Biosciences by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in shares of Neurocrine Biosciences by 73.5% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 229 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Neurocrine Biosciences by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 28,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,836,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Utah Retirement Systems grew its position in Neurocrine Biosciences by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 16,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,264,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.59% of the company’s stock.

About Neurocrine Biosciences

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc discovers, develops, and markets pharmaceuticals for neurological, neuroendocrine, and neuropsychiatric disorders in the United States and internationally. The company’s products include INGREZZA for tardive dyskinesia and chorea associated with Huntington’s disease; ALKINDI for adrenal insufficiency; Efmody capsules for classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia; Orilissa tablets for endometriosis; and Oriahnn capsules to treat uterine fibroids.