Short Interest in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) Increases By 42.6%

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,680,000 shares, an increase of 42.6% from the December 15th total of 2,580,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,490,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BIIB has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Biogen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $230.00 to $164.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Biogen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 28th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Biogen in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho cut their price target on Biogen from $251.00 to $207.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut Biogen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Biogen presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $230.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Biogen

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Biogen during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Biogen in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Biogen by 73.8% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 219 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Biogen by 228.7% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 401 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Biogen in the third quarter worth $74,000. 87.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Biogen Price Performance

BIIB traded down $2.06 on Wednesday, reaching $141.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,533,988 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,198,224. Biogen has a 52-week low of $140.87 and a 52-week high of $252.17. The company has a market cap of $20.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of -0.07. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.11.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.31. Biogen had a net margin of 16.81% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.36 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Biogen will post 16.43 EPS for the current year.

Biogen Company Profile

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.