Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:REGN) Lowered to "Hold" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Regeneron (NASDAQ:REGN) from a "buy" to a "hold" rating in a report issued Sunday.
• Despite the downgrade, the consensus remains a Moderate Buy with an average analyst target of $802.27 and several major firms (JPMorgan, Bank of America, Barclays) recently raising price targets.
• Regeneron beat the quarter's estimates—EPS $11.44 vs. $10.74 and revenue $3.88B—and insiders have sold 5,274 shares (about $4.14M) in the past 90 days.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:REGN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Sunday.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on REGN. Bank of America upgraded Regeneron Pharmaceuticals from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $627.00 to $860.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. HSBC started coverage on Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $255.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Regeneron Pharmaceuticals from $745.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Regeneron Pharmaceuticals from $850.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $923.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $802.27.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.7%

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $759.82 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.13, a quick ratio of 3.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $476.49 and a 1-year high of $821.11. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $770.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $688.75. The company has a market capitalization of $80.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.41.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:REGN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $11.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.74 by $0.70. The firm had revenue of $3.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.76 billion. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.41% and a return on equity of 13.04%. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $12.07 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Regeneron Pharmaceuticals will post 35.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Bonnie L. Bassler sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $800.00, for a total value of $1,200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,362,400. This represents a 46.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jason Pitofsky sold 2,036 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $778.52, for a total value of $1,585,066.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,272 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,325,837.44. This trade represents a 32.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 5,274 shares of company stock worth $4,142,738 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 7.02% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. WPG Advisers LLC increased its stake in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals by 312.5% in the fourth quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 33 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. SHP Wealth Management bought a new position in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Titan Wealth CI Ltd acquired a new stake in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.31% of the company's stock.

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.

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.