California Public Employees Retirement System Has $60.84 Million Stock Holdings in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB)

California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 397,849 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,778 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.27% of Biogen worth $60,839,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Biogen by 640.9% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 163 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Biogen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Biogen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Biogen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Biogen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. 87.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Biogen Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ BIIB opened at $132.03 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $19.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.01. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $141.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $158.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.35. Biogen Inc. has a 52-week low of $128.51 and a 52-week high of $238.00.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stephen A. Sherwin sold 8,760 shares of Biogen stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.02, for a total transaction of $1,314,175.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,697,926.36. This trade represents a 43.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Biogen from $244.00 to $224.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Biogen in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Biogen from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note 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 on the stock. in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Biogen from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Biogen currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $213.33.

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.