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

Shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $38.50.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ALKS shares. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Alkermes in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Alkermes from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th.

Alkermes Stock Performance

ALKS opened at $27.00 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.43. Alkermes has a 52-week low of $22.90 and a 52-week high of $36.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a PE ratio of 12.44, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Insider Transactions at Alkermes

In other Alkermes news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 144,419 shares of Alkermes stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total value of $5,131,207.07. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,056,298.75. The trade was a 71.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alkermes

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alkermes in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Alkermes by 106.2% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 842 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Alkermes by 2,231.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in Alkermes in the first quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Alkermes by 54.4% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

About Alkermes

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.