Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Invests $380,000 in BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,380 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $380,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMRN. Vestal Point Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical by 115.0% in the 4th quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 860,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $56,528,000 after buying an additional 460,000 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in BioMarin Pharmaceutical by 154.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,129 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 1,897 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in BioMarin Pharmaceutical by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 97,261 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $6,875,000 after purchasing an additional 10,687 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BioMarin Pharmaceutical during the 4th quarter worth about $1,297,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in BioMarin Pharmaceutical by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 80,879 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $5,717,000 after purchasing an additional 4,094 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.71% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BioMarin Pharmaceutical news, CAO Erin Burkhart sold 1,786 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.31, for a total value of $105,927.66. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,173 shares of the company's stock, valued at $840,600.63. This trade represents a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.85% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMRN has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on BioMarin Pharmaceutical from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded BioMarin Pharmaceutical from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup cut their price target on BioMarin Pharmaceutical from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on BioMarin Pharmaceutical from $124.00 to $104.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on BioMarin Pharmaceutical in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BioMarin Pharmaceutical currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $93.78.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of BMRN stock traded down $1.05 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $57.18. 323,563 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,745,600. BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.93 and a fifty-two week high of $94.85. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.55. The company has a quick ratio of 3.49, a current ratio of 5.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $10.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.30, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.17.

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.