The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Cuts Holdings in BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its position in BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 154,296 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 5,621 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.08% of BioMarin Pharmaceutical worth $10,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in BioMarin Pharmaceutical during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $234,645,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,991,772 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $853,944,000 after buying an additional 2,496,817 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 14,746,235 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $969,270,000 after acquiring an additional 847,917 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in BioMarin Pharmaceutical during the fourth quarter worth about $44,735,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in BioMarin Pharmaceutical by 461.3% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 611,667 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $40,205,000 after acquiring an additional 502,695 shares during the last quarter. 98.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Erin Burkhart sold 1,295 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.52, for a total transaction of $92,618.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 16,955 shares in the company, valued at $1,212,621.60. This trade represents a 7.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,912 shares of company stock worth $202,244. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank raised their price objective on BioMarin Pharmaceutical from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group increased their target price on BioMarin Pharmaceutical from $109.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $94.00 price target on shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $93.45.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ BMRN traded down $0.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $58.86. 1,022,746 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,866,623. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $64.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a current ratio of 5.33. The company has a market cap of $11.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.75, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.27. BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.93 and a 52 week high of $94.85.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:BMRN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The biotechnology company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $747.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $711.05 million. BioMarin Pharmaceutical had a net margin of 14.96% and a return on equity of 9.91%. Research analysts anticipate that BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

About BioMarin Pharmaceutical

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc develops and commercializes therapies for people with serious and life-threatening rare diseases and medical conditions. Its commercial products include Vimizim, an enzyme replacement therapy for the treatment of mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) IV type A, a lysosomal storage disorder; Naglazyme, a recombinant form of N-acetylgalactosamine 4-sulfatase for patients with MPS VI; and Kuvan, a proprietary synthetic oral form of 6R-BH4 that is used to treat patients with phenylketonuria (PKU), an inherited metabolic disease.