Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Rating Increased to Neutral at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. UBS Group currently has $38.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $21.00.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Alkermes from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Alkermes in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Alkermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Three 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.33.

Alkermes Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ALKS opened at $34.65 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $31.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.58. Alkermes has a 52-week low of $22.90 and a 52-week high of $36.45.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Cato T. Laurencin sold 2,691 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 144,419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $2,056,298.75. This represents a 71.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 309,179 shares of company stock valued at $10,412,450. 4.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alkermes

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alkermes during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Alkermes by 106.2% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Alkermes by 2,231.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alkermes by 558.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 2,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Alkermes in the 4th quarter worth $98,000. 95.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.