Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC Takes $203,000 Position in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 7,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ALKS. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Alkermes in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $281,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 14.3% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 90,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,522,000 after purchasing an additional 11,289 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in Alkermes by 12.7% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 9,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 1,080 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Alkermes by 48.8% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 3,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Alkermes by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 104,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,924,000 after buying an additional 29,998 shares in the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Alkermes in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group raised 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 research note on Tuesday. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Alkermes from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.33.

Alkermes Trading Up 3.8 %

ALKS stock opened at $35.40 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $31.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.51. Alkermes plc has a 12-month low of $22.90 and a 12-month high of $36.45. The company has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.49.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts predict that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 144,419 shares of Alkermes stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total value of $5,131,207.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,875 shares in the company, valued at $2,056,298.75. The trade was a 71.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Cato T. Laurencin sold 2,691 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.85, for a total transaction of $85,708.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $732,964.05. This represents a 10.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 318,400 shares of company stock worth $10,702,911 in the last ninety days. 4.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.