Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB Acquires 56,600 Shares of Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB)

Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) by 84.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 123,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,600 shares during the period. Biogen accounts for 1.9% of Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB owned approximately 0.08% of Biogen worth $18,916,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BIIB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Biogen by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,748,875 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,561,238,000 after buying an additional 70,368 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Biogen by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,695,476 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $563,709,000 after purchasing an additional 82,456 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Biogen by 13,574.7% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,667,531 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $407,919,000 after purchasing an additional 2,648,024 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Biogen during the 4th quarter valued at about $355,569,000. 87.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Biogen

In related news, Director Stephen A. Sherwin sold 8,760 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was 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 directly owns 11,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,697,926.36. This 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 accessible through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Biogen Price Performance

Shares of Biogen stock opened at $122.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Biogen Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.77 and a 52 week high of $238.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $140.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $157.90. The company has a market capitalization of $18.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.99, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.01.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The biotechnology company reported $3.44 earnings per share 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, analysts expect that Biogen Inc. will post 15.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Biogen from $231.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 target price (down from $138.00) on shares of Biogen in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com lowered Biogen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Biogen in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Biogen from $281.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $213.33.

Biogen 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.