Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Raises Holdings in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) by 26.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,285 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Biogen were worth $349,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Biogen by 13,574.7% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,667,531 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $407,919,000 after acquiring an additional 2,648,024 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Biogen by 977.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,066,460 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $163,083,000 after acquiring an additional 967,523 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of Biogen by 2,715.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 316,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $61,253,000 after acquiring an additional 304,778 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Biogen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $55,826,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings 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 valued at $1,423,747,000 after acquiring an additional 248,942 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BIIB shares. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Biogen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Biogen from $281.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. HC Wainwright dropped their price objective on Biogen from $300.00 to $241.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Biogen from $192.00 to $157.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on Biogen from $244.00 to $224.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $213.33.

Biogen Stock Up 0.4 %

BIIB opened at $140.50 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $144.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $168.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of -0.08. Biogen Inc. has a 12 month low of $128.51 and a 12 month high of $238.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Biogen Inc. will post 15.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.