Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Position in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 899,764 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,821 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $25,877,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its stake in shares of Alkermes by 365.5% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,882,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,704,000 after buying an additional 1,478,422 shares during the period. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Alkermes in the third quarter worth $16,126,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Alkermes by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 464,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,365,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Alkermes by 108.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 423,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,867,000 after purchasing an additional 220,893 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Alkermes by 55.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 405,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,347,000 after purchasing an additional 144,506 shares during the period. 95.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Alkermes news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 61,151 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.07, for a total value of $1,961,112.57. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,525,762.32. This represents a 56.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 5,208 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.15, for a total value of $151,813.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,769,492.45. This represents a 7.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 323,608 shares of company stock valued at $10,854,725 over the last ninety days. 4.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alkermes Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ALKS opened at $35.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.49. Alkermes plc has a 1 year low of $22.90 and a 1 year high of $36.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $30.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.07.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALKS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Alkermes in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Alkermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.36.

Alkermes 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.