Vestcor Inc Grows Position in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Vestcor Inc lifted its position in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 40.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 13,377 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,838 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alkermes by 106.2% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Alkermes in the 4th quarter worth approximately $215,000. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alkermes by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 16,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 4,269 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alkermes by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 8,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 1,028 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 38,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 4,444 shares in the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alkermes Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ ALKS opened at $34.37 on Tuesday. Alkermes plc has a 12 month low of $22.90 and a 12 month high of $36.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $32.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.90. The stock has a market cap of $5.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.62.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.11. Alkermes had a net margin of 23.57% and a return on equity of 30.80%. As a group, analysts forecast that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ALKS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Alkermes from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $38.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.46.

Insider Activity at Alkermes

In other news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 144,419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total transaction of $5,131,207.07. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,056,298.75. This represents a 71.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 4.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.