Norges Bank Invests $234.65 Million in BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 3,569,831 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,645,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical during the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,527,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 502,695 shares during the last quarter. Clearline Capital LP purchased a new position in BioMarin Pharmaceutical in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $22,477,000. Bellevue Group AG increased its holdings in shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical by 533.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 330,976 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $23,264,000 after buying an additional 278,744 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. raised its position in shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical by 77.2% during the 4th quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 580,222 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $38,138,000 after buying an additional 252,820 shares in the last quarter. 98.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Trading Down 1.9 %

BMRN opened at $71.44 on Monday. BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. has a one year low of $60.63 and a one year high of $94.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 5.33 and a quick ratio of 2.62. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.47, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.33.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:BMRN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The biotechnology company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $747.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $711.05 million. BioMarin Pharmaceutical had a return on equity of 9.91% and a net margin of 14.96%. Analysts predict that BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on BMRN. StockNews.com raised BioMarin Pharmaceutical from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Bank of America increased their price objective on BioMarin Pharmaceutical from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Oppenheimer upgraded BioMarin Pharmaceutical from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $98.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $94.00 price target on shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical from $109.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.00.

Insider Transactions at BioMarin Pharmaceutical

In related news, CAO Erin Burkhart sold 1,295 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.52, for a total transaction of $92,618.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 16,955 shares in the company, valued at $1,212,621.60. The trade was a 7.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.85% of the company’s stock.

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.