Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. Reduces Holdings in Biogen Inc. $BIIB

Key Points

• Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. significantly reduced its stake in Biogen Inc. by 85.6%, selling 83,745 shares, and now holds 14,110 shares valued at approximately $1.93 million.
• Institutional investors have shown mixed movements, with OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd. increasing its stake by 1,663.4% while other firms like Hsbc Global Res downgraded Biogen's stock rating.
• Biogen's recent earnings report exceeded expectations, reporting $5.47 EPS against a consensus of $3.93, and a revenue of $2.65 billion, representing a 7.3% increase compared to the previous year.

Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. decreased its position in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB - Free Report) by 85.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,110 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 83,745 shares during the period. Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Biogen were worth $1,931,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BIIB. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Biogen in the fourth quarter valued at about $21,710,000. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Biogen by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,056 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $926,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Biogen by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 79,952 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $12,226,000 after purchasing an additional 13,652 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Biogen by 27.4% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 261,162 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $39,937,000 after purchasing an additional 56,132 shares during the period. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Biogen by 103.6% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 3,903 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $597,000 after purchasing an additional 1,986 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on BIIB shares. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of Biogen from $265.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Biogen in a research note on Monday, July 21st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $142.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Biogen from $219.00 to $197.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Biogen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Biogen from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twenty-one have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $185.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Biogen news, insider Rachid Izzar sold 2,223 shares of Biogen stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.00, for a total transaction of $300,105.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,330 shares of the company's stock, valued at $854,550. The trade was a 25.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Biogen Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ BIIB traded up $0.1860 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $139.0460. 838,352 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,558,895. Biogen Inc. has a 52-week low of $110.04 and a 52-week high of $207.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $130.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.84. The company has a market capitalization of $20.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The biotechnology company reported $5.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.93 by $1.54. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Biogen had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 13.85%. Biogen's revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.28 earnings per share. Biogen has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.500-16.000 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Biogen Inc. will post 15.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Biogen Company 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.