Out of the Gate: Biogen Idec Slips

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Biogen Idec Inc. slipped Friday after BWS Financial analyst downgraded the stock, saying it should trade around its current price for the next few months, until the drug maker's earnings prove that price is fair.

Biogen shares are up almost 50 percent since early April, and set a two-year high of $64.80 Thursday.

The stock shed 38 cents, to $64.23, in morning trading.

Hamed Khorsand lowered his rating to "Hold" from "Buy," as the stock passed his price target of $64 per share.

While Khorsand does not expect the stock to rise much in the next few months, he said Biogen has a strong slate of drugs in development, including its heart failure candidate Adentri. It has a total of seven late-stage clinical trials under way, he added.

"The pipeline at Biogen is one of the richest among the large-cap biotechnology companies," he said. But it will take time for those drugs to be approved and sales to grow, and Biogen should be able to increase its profits starting in late 2009.

Nineteen analysts rate Biogen shares at "Neutral" or the equivalent, while six rate the stock at "Buy" and one gives a rating of "Underweight," or "Sell."