Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:REGN) Stock Rating Lowered by Morgan Stanley

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:REGN) was downgraded by Morgan Stanley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $767.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 3.37% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on REGN. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Regeneron Pharmaceuticals from $753.00 to $781.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Regeneron Pharmaceuticals from $595.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $758.41.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of REGN opened at $742.00 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $77.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.77, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.37. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $476.49 and a fifty-two week high of $800.99. The company has a quick ratio of 3.72, a current ratio of 4.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $641.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $585.78.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:REGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $11.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.73 by $2.10. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 32.13% and a return on equity of 13.76%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $12.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Regeneron Pharmaceuticals will post 35.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Christine A. Poon sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $654.27, for a total transaction of $4,252,755.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,352 shares in the company, valued at $1,538,843.04. This trade represents a 73.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Jason Pitofsky sold 431 shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $651.43, for a total value of $280,766.33. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 4,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,757,503.19. This trade represents a 9.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 7.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of REGN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,407,891 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,966,767,000 after purchasing an additional 121,545 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,832,002 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,536,801,000 after purchasing an additional 42,343 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox increased its stake in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals by 18.9% in the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 4,550,845 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,558,804,000 after purchasing an additional 724,562 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals by 6.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,453,143 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,379,329,000 after buying an additional 139,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals by 4.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,175,026 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,379,467,000 after buying an additional 89,579 shares during the last quarter. 83.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc discovers, invents, develops, manufactures, and commercializes medicines for treating various diseases worldwide. The company's products include EYLEA injection to treat wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema; myopic choroidal neovascularization; diabetic retinopathy; neovascular glaucoma; and retinopathy of prematurity.