SG Americas Securities LLC Grows Position in Alkermes plc $ALKS

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 399.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 178,993 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 143,121 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $6,329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ALKS. Baker BROS. Advisors LP increased its position in Alkermes by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 10,012,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,143,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,916 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,472,858 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,051,000 after purchasing an additional 932,507 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 6,668,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,571,000 after buying an additional 375,500 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Alkermes by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,184,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,064,000 after buying an additional 1,256,377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Alkermes by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,412,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,467,000 after buying an additional 714,787 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

Alkermes Price Performance

ALKS stock opened at $55.08 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.03. Alkermes plc has a 12-month low of $25.17 and a 12-month high of $55.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $9.18 billion, a PE ratio of 61.20 and a beta of 0.38.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $384.55 million for the quarter. Alkermes had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 9.78%. As a group, research analysts predict that Alkermes plc will post -0.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Christopher I. Wright sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.10, for a total value of $90,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,158,168. This represents a 7.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.67, for a total transaction of $375,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 77,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,224,799.63. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 35,102 shares of company stock valued at $1,310,828. 4.59% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ALKS. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Alkermes from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Alkermes from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Alkermes from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Truist Financial upgraded Alkermes to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.06.

About Alkermes

Alkermes plc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative medicines to address unmet needs in the central nervous system (CNS). The company applies its proprietary drug delivery technologies and therapeutic expertise to advance treatments for addiction, schizophrenia, bipolar I disorder and depression. Alkermes’ portfolio includes both commercial products and a pipeline of investigational therapies designed to improve patient outcomes and support long-term disease management.

Alkermes’ commercial franchise features several approved products.