Retirement Systems of Alabama Purchases 526,484 Shares of Biogen Inc. $BIIB

Key Points

• Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its Biogen stake by 1,697.5% in the third quarter, buying 526,484 shares to hold 557,499 shares valued at about $125.9 million.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: Biogen has a MarketBeat average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $254.41; several firms recently upgraded the stock or raised targets.
• Biogen reported quarterly EPS of $2.62, topping the $1.99 consensus, while revenue of $2.80 billion beat estimates and grew 10.6% year over year.

Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in shares of Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB - Free Report) by 1,697.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 557,499 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 526,484 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.38% of Biogen worth $125,928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Probity Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Biogen by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 1,183 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in Biogen by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,936 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its stake in Biogen by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Biogen by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 1,164 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Biogen by 1.2% during the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,721 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $866,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Biogen from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 31st. Wolfe Research raised shares of Biogen from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Argus upgraded shares of Biogen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $280.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $260.00 target price (up from $235.00) on shares of Biogen in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Biogen from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $210.00 to $300.00 in a report on Monday, October 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Biogen has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $254.41.

Biogen Price Performance

Biogen stock opened at $254.87 on Tuesday. Biogen Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.77 and a 12-month high of $261.00. The stock has a market cap of $37.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 108.92, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $230.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $203.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The biotechnology company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.63. Biogen had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 9.38%. The company had revenue of $2.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.81 EPS. Biogen's revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Biogen Inc. will post 12.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Biogen Company Profile

Biogen is a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for neurological and rare diseases. Its areas of focus include multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, spinal muscular atrophy and Friedreich's ataxia.

Its products include multiple sclerosis treatments such as Tysabri, Tecfidera and Vumerity, and Skyclarys for Friedreich's ataxia. Biogen shares rights to several medicines with other companies, including Leqembi for Alzheimer's disease with Eisai and Spinraza for spinal muscular atrophy with Ionis Pharmaceuticals.

Founded in 1978, Biogen is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and serves patients and healthcare providers in the United States and international markets.

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