Biogen Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:BIIB)

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors acquired 32,455 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 737% compared to the typical volume of 3,878 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Biogen

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Biogen by 58.5% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 10,900 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,113,000 after buying an additional 4,025 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Biogen by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 43,460 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,646,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Biogen by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC now owns 51,530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $7,880,000 after buying an additional 3,698 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Biogen by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 913,029 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $176,982,000 after buying an additional 12,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Biogen by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 168,631 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,687,000 after buying an additional 5,270 shares in the last quarter. 87.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BIIB shares. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Biogen from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Biogen from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Biogen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $250.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Biogen in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Biogen from $251.00 to $207.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Biogen has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $213.33.

Biogen Trading Up 4.1 %

Shares of BIIB stock traded up $6.22 on Monday, hitting $156.60. 673,815 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,499,294. Biogen has a twelve month low of $128.51 and a twelve month high of $238.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.92 billion, a PE ratio of 13.99, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.01. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $143.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.35.

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

Biogen Company Profile

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.