Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $38.46.

ALKS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Alkermes in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group upgraded Alkermes from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alkermes news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 100,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.05, for a total transaction of $3,234,421.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,419,494.50. The trade was a 69.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALKS. RTW Investments LP raised its stake in shares of Alkermes by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 7,557,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,363,000 after purchasing an additional 903,802 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Alkermes by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,478,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,568,000 after acquiring an additional 57,697 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Alkermes by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,450,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,242,000 after acquiring an additional 209,740 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Alkermes by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,019,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,842,000 after acquiring an additional 128,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avoro Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Alkermes in the fourth quarter worth approximately $70,462,000. 95.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alkermes Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ALKS opened at $33.88 on Friday. Alkermes has a 12-month low of $22.90 and a 12-month high of $36.45. The firm has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.17.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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, equities research analysts forecast that Alkermes will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.