Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:REGN) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley raised Regeneron’s price target to $779 from $758 while maintaining an “equal weight” rating, implying roughly 4.2% upside. Analysts overall have a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average target of $814.54.
• Regeneron reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $14.29 versus the $10.16 consensus and revenue of $4.29 billion, up 16.7% year over year.
• The stock rose 1.2% to $747.56, while institutional investors owned 83.31% of shares. Company insiders sold nearly $3.3 million of stock over the past 90 days through pre-arranged trading plans.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:REGN - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $758.00 to $779.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the biopharmaceutical company's stock. Morgan Stanley's target price would suggest a potential upside of 4.21% from the company's current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Benchmark raised shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals from $900.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals from $1,000.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $814.54.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ:REGN traded up $8.84 on Wednesday, hitting $747.56. 131,556 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 825,125. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $790.36 and a 200-day moving average of $720.41. The stock has a market cap of $76.97 billion, a PE ratio of 18.46, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.16. The company has a current ratio of 3.34, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $541.00 and a fifty-two week high of $859.34.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:REGN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $14.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.16 by $4.13. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 27.86%.The business had revenue of $4.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. The company's revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $12.81 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Regeneron Pharmaceuticals will post 45.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Kathryn Guarini sold 400 shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $850.00, for a total transaction of $340,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 603 shares in the company, valued at $512,550. This trade represents a 39.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Marion Mccourt sold 1,131 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $857.39, for a total transaction of $969,708.09. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 12,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,291,252.17. The trade was a 8.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 3,946 shares of company stock valued at $3,302,458 over the last 90 days. 6.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $5,682,636,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,834,688 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,014,621,000 after purchasing an additional 170,210 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC grew its stake in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals by 71.1% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 2,010,517 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,551,858,000 after purchasing an additional 835,240 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,591,105 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,228,127,000 after purchasing an additional 106,632 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,291,053 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $805,023,000 after purchasing an additional 101,469 shares during the last quarter. 83.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company that discovers, develops and commercializes medicines for serious medical conditions. The company uses human genetics, antibody technology and other biological research platforms to develop treatments in areas including eye diseases, cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, inflammatory diseases, infectious diseases and rare conditions.

Regeneron's marketed products include EYLEA and EYLEA HD for certain retinal diseases; Dupixent, developed and commercialized with Sanofi, for multiple allergic and inflammatory conditions; Libtayo for certain cancers; Praluent for high cholesterol; Kevzara for rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases; Evkeeza for homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia; and Veopoz for a rare immune-mediated disorder.

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