Bridgewater Associates LP Acquires 160,166 Shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN)

Bridgewater Associates LP increased its stake in shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN - Free Report) by 112.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 302,480 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 160,166 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP owned 0.16% of BioMarin Pharmaceutical worth $19,882,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMRN. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in BioMarin Pharmaceutical in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $317,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in BioMarin Pharmaceutical by 461.3% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 611,667 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $40,205,000 after purchasing an additional 502,695 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new stake in BioMarin Pharmaceutical in the 4th quarter worth $430,000. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 432,122 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $28,403,000 after buying an additional 43,593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in BioMarin Pharmaceutical by 150.4% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 30,467 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,142,000 after buying an additional 18,300 shares in the last quarter. 98.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Stock Up 0.2 %

BMRN traded up $0.13 on Monday, hitting $59.30. 154,365 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,879,362. The stock's fifty day moving average is $66.74 and its 200-day moving average is $66.24. BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.93 and a 12 month high of $94.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a current ratio of 5.33. The company has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a PE ratio of 26.95, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.30.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:BMRN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The biotechnology company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.18. BioMarin Pharmaceutical had a return on equity of 9.91% and a net margin of 14.96%. The company had revenue of $747.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $711.05 million. Equities research analysts predict that BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BMRN. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Oppenheimer raised BioMarin Pharmaceutical from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $98.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $94.00 target price on shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BioMarin Pharmaceutical has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Erin Burkhart sold 1,295 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.52, for a total value of $92,618.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 16,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,212,621.60. This trade represents a 7.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.85% of the company's stock.

About BioMarin Pharmaceutical

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc develops and commercializes therapies for people with serious and life-threatening rare diseases and medical conditions. Its commercial products include Vimizim, an enzyme replacement therapy for the treatment of mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) IV type A, a lysosomal storage disorder; Naglazyme, a recombinant form of N-acetylgalactosamine 4-sulfatase for patients with MPS VI; and Kuvan, a proprietary synthetic oral form of 6R-BH4 that is used to treat patients with phenylketonuria (PKU), an inherited metabolic disease.