Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ:NBIX)

Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ:NBIX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $204.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 50.32% from the stock’s previous close.

NBIX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Neurocrine Biosciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Neurocrine Biosciences from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. TD Cowen upped their target price on Neurocrine Biosciences from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research downgraded Neurocrine Biosciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Neurocrine Biosciences from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Neurocrine Biosciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.14.

Neurocrine Biosciences Price Performance

Shares of NBIX stock traded down $1.24 on Friday, hitting $135.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,127,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,222,842. Neurocrine Biosciences has a fifty-two week low of $122.14 and a fifty-two week high of $186.12. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $149.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.40.

Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ:NBIX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $1.20. Neurocrine Biosciences had a net margin of 20.91% and a return on equity of 22.43%. The firm had revenue of $959.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $891.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Neurocrine Biosciences will post 7.70 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Neurocrine Biosciences

In related news, CFO Matt Abernethy sold 2,311 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.20, for a total value of $363,289.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 42,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,729,417.60. This trade represents a 5.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider David W. Boyer sold 826 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.45, for a total transaction of $130,053.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 8,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,373,278.90. The trade was a 8.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 4,387 shares of company stock worth $720,855 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Neurocrine Biosciences

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Neurocrine Biosciences by 10.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 583,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,913,000 after buying an additional 55,723 shares during the period. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. bought a new stake in shares of Neurocrine Biosciences in the second quarter valued at about $2,510,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Neurocrine Biosciences in the second quarter valued at about $1,927,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its stake in shares of Neurocrine Biosciences by 64.0% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 18,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,094,000 after buying an additional 7,163 shares during the period. Finally, SEB Asset Management AB bought a new stake in shares of Neurocrine Biosciences in the first quarter valued at about $10,483,000. Institutional investors own 92.59% of the company’s stock.

Neurocrine Biosciences Company Profile

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing medicines for neurological, neuroendocrine and related disorders. The company is headquartered in San Diego, California, and conducts research through internal programs and collaborations with academic institutions and other pharmaceutical companies.

Neurocrine’s principal commercial product is INGREZZA (valbenazine), a vesicular monoamine transporter 2 inhibitor used to treat tardive dyskinesia and chorea associated with Huntington’s disease.