Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $REGN Stake Lessened by CenterBook Partners LP

Key Points

• CenterBook Partners LP cut its Regeneron stake by 47.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 26,977 shares and leaving it with 30,246 shares worth about $23.35 million.
• Regeneron’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $9.47 versus $8.91 expected and revenue of $3.61 billion, up 19% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment is still broadly positive despite some target-price cuts: the stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $792.65, while recent news includes an expanded cancer partnership with CytomX and an investor legal investigation that could weigh on sentiment.

CenterBook Partners LP lessened its stake in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN - Free Report) by 47.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,246 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 26,977 shares during the period. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals comprises about 1.1% of CenterBook Partners LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. CenterBook Partners LP's holdings in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals were worth $23,346,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in REGN. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $1,012,296,000. Dodge & Cox increased its stake in shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals by 18.9% in the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 4,550,845 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,558,804,000 after buying an additional 724,562 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals by 528.7% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 721,354 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $405,596,000 after buying an additional 606,612 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals by 38.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,484,473 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $834,675,000 after buying an additional 408,649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec increased its stake in shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals by 115.4% in the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 462,502 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $260,051,000 after buying an additional 247,780 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.31% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur F. Ryan sold 100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.24, for a total transaction of $70,524.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 17,503 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,343,815.72. The trade was a 0.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 6.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on REGN. Leerink Partners restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $641.00 price target (down from $792.00) on shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals from $1,057.00 to $875.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals from $880.00 to $960.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals from $800.00 to $700.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $792.65.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

REGN stock opened at $635.45 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.57 and a quick ratio of 2.96. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $485.00 and a 1-year high of $821.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $706.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $742.43. The firm has a market cap of $67.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.25.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:REGN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $9.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.91 by $0.56. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 29.65% and a return on equity of 13.16%. The company had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $8.22 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 37.44 EPS for the current year.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals's payout ratio is 9.16%.

Key Headlines Impacting Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

Here are the key news stories impacting Regeneron Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Regeneron expanded its cancer therapy partnership with CytomX Therapeutics, a deal that could generate up to $4 billion in potential milestones and broadens its bispecific oncology pipeline. REGN Expands Cancer Deal With CytomX for Bispecific Therapeutics
• Positive Sentiment: The company also reported highly favorable Lynozyfic trial results in light chain amyloidosis, which supports the view that Regeneron’s clinical pipeline may have additional upside. A Look At Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) Valuation After Expanded CytomX Partnership And Positive Lynozyfic Trial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Regeneron said it will highlight new data from its metabolic disease, ophthalmology and rare disease programs at upcoming ADA and ENDO meetings, giving investors another near-term catalyst to watch. Regeneron to Highlight Progress Across Its Metabolic Disease, Ophthalmology and Rare Disease Pipelines at ADA and ENDO
• Neutral Sentiment: Parabilis Medicines, a Regeneron-partnered biotech, is pursuing an IPO to advance zolucatetide into Phase III, which could indirectly reflect on Regeneron’s partner network but does not directly change REGN’s fundamentals. Parabilis eyes $475m IPO to push lead asset into Phase III
• Negative Sentiment: An investor alert from Pomerantz LLP announced an investigation into claims on behalf of Regeneron shareholders, which may create some legal overhang and weigh on sentiment. INVESTOR ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm Investigates Claims On Behalf of Investors of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. - REGN

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc NASDAQ: REGN is a U.S.-based biotechnology company founded in 1988 and headquartered in Tarrytown, New York. It focuses on discovering, developing, manufacturing and commercializing medicines for serious medical conditions. The company combines laboratory research, clinical development and in-house manufacturing to advance a pipeline of biologic therapies across multiple therapeutic areas.

Regeneron is known for its proprietary drug discovery technologies, including its VelocImmune platform, which is used to generate fully human monoclonal antibodies.

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