Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $38.46.

ALKS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Alkermes from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $38.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Alkermes in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alkermes news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 100,918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.05, for a total transaction of $3,234,421.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,290 shares in the company, valued at $1,419,494.50. This trade represents a 69.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 4.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alkermes

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. RTW Investments LP grew its position in Alkermes by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 7,557,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,363,000 after acquiring an additional 903,802 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,478,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,568,000 after acquiring an additional 57,697 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,450,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,242,000 after purchasing an additional 209,740 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,019,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,842,000 after purchasing an additional 128,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avoro Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alkermes during the 4th quarter worth about $70,462,000. 95.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alkermes Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ALKS opened at $33.88 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.17. Alkermes has a 52 week low of $22.90 and a 52 week high of $36.45. The firm has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.62.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.11. Alkermes had a net margin of 23.57% and a return on equity of 30.80%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alkermes will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Alkermes Company Profile

Alkermes plc, a biopharmaceutical company, researches, develops, and commercializes pharmaceutical products to address unmet medical needs of patients in therapeutic areas in the United States, Ireland, and internationally. It has a portfolio of proprietary commercial products for the treatment of alcohol dependence, opioid dependence, schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder and a pipeline of clinical and preclinical product candidates in development for neurological disorders.