Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Sets New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $36.70 and last traded at $35.19, with a volume of 734 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $35.40.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ALKS. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Alkermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $25.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group raised Alkermes from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $21.00 to $38.00 in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.33.

Alkermes Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $31.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.51.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 30.80% and a net margin of 23.57%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Cato T. Laurencin sold 2,691 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $732,964.05. The trade was a 10.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 144,419 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,875 shares in the company, valued at $2,056,298.75. This trade represents a 71.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 318,400 shares of company stock worth $10,702,911. 4.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alkermes

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alkermes in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alkermes by 106.2% in the fourth 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 during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Alkermes by 2,231.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Alkermes by 558.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 2,502 shares during the period. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Alkermes during the fourth quarter worth approximately $98,000. Hedge funds and other 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.