Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Position in Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. $NBIX

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc cut its Neurocrine Biosciences position by 17.4% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 330,606 shares valued at about $46.9 million.
• Other institutions were mostly buyers: JPMorgan Chase, AQR Capital, UBS, and Pictet all increased holdings, and 92.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
• Several insiders sold shares recently, including David W. Boyer and Jude Onyia, while analysts still view the stock favorably overall with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $186.05.

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX - Free Report) by 17.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 330,606 shares of the company's stock after selling 69,564 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.33% of Neurocrine Biosciences worth $46,890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Neurocrine Biosciences by 11.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,730,152 shares of the company's stock valued at $664,019,000 after buying an additional 468,405 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Neurocrine Biosciences by 83.7% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,773,648 shares of the company's stock valued at $388,435,000 after buying an additional 1,263,633 shares during the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. increased its holdings in Neurocrine Biosciences by 1.4% in the third quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 1,184,345 shares of the company's stock valued at $166,258,000 after buying an additional 16,543 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Neurocrine Biosciences by 169.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 983,528 shares of the company's stock valued at $139,494,000 after buying an additional 618,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in Neurocrine Biosciences by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 776,934 shares of the company's stock valued at $110,305,000 after buying an additional 83,488 shares during the last quarter. 92.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Neurocrine Biosciences

In other news, insider David W. Boyer sold 3,888 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.64, for a total transaction of $609,016.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,799 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,221,635.36. This represents a 33.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jude Onyia sold 11,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.53, for a total value of $1,710,830.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,846 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,019,828.38. This trade represents a 29.85% 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 278,786 shares of company stock valued at $43,099,615. 4.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Neurocrine Biosciences in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Neurocrine Biosciences in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Neurocrine Biosciences from $147.00 to $140.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Neurocrine Biosciences from $177.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Neurocrine Biosciences from $185.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $186.05.

Neurocrine Biosciences Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ:NBIX opened at $158.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.92 billion, a PE ratio of 24.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $139.36 and a 200-day moving average of $139.16. Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $121.42 and a 52 week high of $162.39.

Neurocrine Biosciences Company Profile

Neurocrine Biosciences NASDAQ: NBIX is a biopharmaceutical company based in San Diego, California, focused on developing treatments for neurological, endocrine and neuropsychiatric disorders. Since its founding in 1992, the company has pursued a research‐driven strategy aimed at addressing unmet medical needs in movement disorders, reproductive health and central nervous system conditions. Neurocrine's operations encompass drug discovery, clinical development and commercialization activities.

The company's lead marketed product, Ingrezza™ (valbenazine), is indicated for the treatment of tardive dyskinesia, a movement disorder associated with long-term antipsychotic use.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.