Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Invests $1.37 Million in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 7,065 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,369,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BIIB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Biogen by 15.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,570,398 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,573,075,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163,068 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Biogen by 19,722.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 358,992 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $695,870,000 after buying an additional 357,181 shares during the period. RA Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Biogen by 39.0% in the first quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 740,727 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $159,723,000 after acquiring an additional 207,835 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in Biogen by 0.7% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 16,338,294 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,787,543,000 after acquiring an additional 117,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Biogen during the first quarter valued at approximately $22,939,000. Institutional investors own 87.93% of the company’s stock.

Biogen Price Performance

NASDAQ BIIB opened at $164.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market cap of $24.03 billion, a PE ratio of 14.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of -0.06. Biogen Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.35 and a 52 week high of $268.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $187.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $208.07.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.31. Biogen had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 16.81%. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.36 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Biogen Inc. will post 16.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BIIB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Biogen from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Wedbush reduced their price objective on shares of Biogen from $210.00 to $205.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Biogen from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Biogen in a research note on Friday. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Biogen in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $258.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Priya Singhal sold 431 shares of Biogen stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.22, for a total value of $88,018.82. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,316 shares in the company, valued at $1,085,633.52. This trade represents a 7.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Biogen 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.