Needham & Company LLC Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB)

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $294.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 34.83% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently commented on BIIB. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Biogen from $310.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. HSBC increased their price target on Biogen from $339.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Bank of America decreased their price target on Biogen from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Biogen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $315.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $311.00 price target on shares of Biogen in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.46.

Biogen Price Performance

Biogen stock opened at $218.06 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 2.10. Biogen has a 52 week low of $189.44 and a 52 week high of $319.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of -0.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $212.91 and a 200-day moving average of $229.84.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported $3.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.45 by $0.22. Biogen had a return on equity of 14.83% and a net margin of 12.07%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.40 EPS. Biogen’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Biogen will post 15.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Biogen

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Biogen in the first quarter valued at $22,939,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Biogen in the first quarter valued at $2,846,000. Wahed Invest LLC grew its position in shares of Biogen by 14.0% in the first quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 2,741 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $591,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Biogen by 39.0% in the first quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 740,727 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $159,723,000 after purchasing an additional 207,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Biogen by 82.8% in the first quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 117 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 87.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.