California Public Employees Retirement System Has $60.84 Million Stake in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB)

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 397,849 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,778 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Biogen were worth $60,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Biogen by 640.9% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 163 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Biogen in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Biogen in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Biogen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Biogen in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.93% of the company’s stock.

Biogen Price Performance

BIIB opened at $132.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $141.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $158.82. Biogen Inc. has a twelve month low of $128.51 and a twelve month high of $238.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $19.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.01.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The biotechnology company reported $3.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.01. Biogen had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 14.98%. Equities analysts expect that Biogen Inc. will post 15.83 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Biogen

In related news, Director Stephen A. Sherwin sold 8,760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.02, for a total transaction of $1,314,175.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,697,926.36. The trade was a 43.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Biogen from $298.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Biogen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Biogen from $244.00 to $224.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank Of America (Bofa) lowered their target price on shares of Biogen from $178.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Biogen from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $213.33.

About Biogen

Biogen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers therapies for treating neurological and neurodegenerative diseases in the United States, Europe, Germany, Asia, and internationally. The company provides TECFIDERA, VUMERITY, AVONEX, PLEGRIDY, TYSABRI, and FAMPYRA for multiple sclerosis (MS); SPINRAZA for spinal muscular atrophy; ADUHELM to treat Alzheimer’s disease; FUMADERM to treat plaque psoriasis; BENEPALI, an etanercept biosimilar referencing ENBREL; IMRALDI, an adalimumab biosimilar referencing HUMIRA; FLIXABI, an infliximab biosimilar referencing REMICADE; and BYOOVIZ, a ranibizumab biosimilar referencing LUCENTIS.