Westpac Banking Corp Sells 9,106 Shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. $BMRN

Westpac Banking Corp lessened its position in shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN) by 65.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,874 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 9,106 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in BioMarin Pharmaceutical were worth $264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BMRN. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical by 90.7% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,580,573 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $306,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,654,768 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in BioMarin Pharmaceutical in the 2nd quarter valued at about $112,352,000. Viking Global Investors LP raised its stake in BioMarin Pharmaceutical by 13.8% in the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 12,288,611 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $675,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488,552 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in BioMarin Pharmaceutical by 2,445.5% in the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 845,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,792,000 after acquiring an additional 812,284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new position in shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical in the second quarter worth about $35,202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical in a report on Monday, December 29th. Leerink Partners cut BioMarin Pharmaceutical from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical from $106.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on BioMarin Pharmaceutical from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on BioMarin Pharmaceutical from $122.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.71.

Insider Transactions at BioMarin Pharmaceutical

In other news, EVP Gregory R. Friberg sold 6,326 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.38, for a total value of $381,963.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 37,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,268,959.64. This represents a 14.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BMRN opened at $61.11 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.15. BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.76 and a 52 week high of $73.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.33, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 3.10, a current ratio of 5.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

About BioMarin Pharmaceutical

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development and commercialization of therapies for rare genetic and metabolic diseases. The company focuses on addressing unmet medical needs by leveraging enzyme replacement therapy, small molecule pharmacological chaperones and gene therapy technologies. Headquartered in Novato, California, BioMarin operates research and development facilities in the United States and Europe.

The company’s commercial portfolio includes several approved therapies targeting inherited disorders.