Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) Shares Acquired by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 521.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 175,200 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 147,000 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned about 0.10% of Alkermes worth $4,860,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ALKS. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Alkermes by 52.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,746,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,028,000 after purchasing an additional 4,055,926 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Alkermes during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,171,000. RTW Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alkermes during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $24,903,000. Redwood Investments LLC bought a new position in Alkermes in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $12,201,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Alkermes by 251.8% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 511,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,321,000 after buying an additional 365,964 shares in the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALKS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a report on Monday, April 1st. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Alkermes from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Alkermes in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group lowered Alkermes from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $25.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alkermes presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alkermes news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 10,417 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.10, for a total transaction of $292,717.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 65,911 shares in the company, valued at $1,852,099.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 4.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alkermes Stock Performance

ALKS opened at $24.44 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 11.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 2.50, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.89. Alkermes plc has a fifty-two week low of $22.01 and a fifty-two week high of $33.71.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.29). Alkermes had a net margin of 21.39% and a return on equity of 16.10%. The business had revenue of $377.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $362.78 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.02) EPS. Alkermes’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alkermes plc will post 2.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alkermes announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 15th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.