Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on the stock from $40.00 to $52.00. The stock had previously closed at $33.69, but opened at $34.41. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a buy rating on the stock. Alkermes shares last traded at $34.25, with a volume of 138,247 shares.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group upgraded Alkermes from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Four investment 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.com, Alkermes presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 transaction of $5,131,207.07. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,056,298.75. This represents a 71.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 4.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALKS. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Alkermes by 60.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $463,000 after acquiring an additional 6,073 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Alkermes during the 4th quarter valued at $3,273,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 332,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,566,000 after purchasing an additional 27,604 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Alkermes in the fourth quarter worth $98,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 19,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $569,000 after buying an additional 2,755 shares in the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alkermes Stock Up 1.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $33.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.20.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last posted 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

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.