Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seventeen have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $166.90.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim decreased their target price on Neurocrine Biosciences from $165.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Neurocrine Biosciences from $172.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Neurocrine Biosciences from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Neurocrine Biosciences from $154.00 to $148.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on Neurocrine Biosciences from $184.00 to $179.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th.

Neurocrine Biosciences Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ NBIX opened at $113.85 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $11.35 billion, a PE ratio of 34.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.33. Neurocrine Biosciences has a twelve month low of $110.25 and a twelve month high of $157.98. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.70.

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Neurocrine Biosciences news, CFO Matt Abernethy sold 2,558 shares of Neurocrine Biosciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.86, for a total value of $298,927.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,063,806.50. This trade represents a 6.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kevin Charles Gorman sold 5,844 shares of Neurocrine Biosciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.69, for a total value of $681,936.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 521,618 shares in the company, valued at $60,867,604.42. This trade represents a 1.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 234,269 shares of company stock worth $34,053,879 in the last quarter. 4.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Neurocrine Biosciences by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,119,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,381,331,000 after buying an additional 122,681 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Neurocrine Biosciences by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,148,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,186,000 after buying an additional 539,936 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in shares of Neurocrine Biosciences by 134.2% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,016,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $411,742,000 after buying an additional 1,728,605 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Neurocrine Biosciences by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,896,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,926,000 after buying an additional 53,610 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Neurocrine Biosciences by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,875,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,523,000 after buying an additional 15,830 shares during the period. 92.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.