Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Upgraded at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. UBS Group currently has $38.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $21.00.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on ALKS. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Alkermes in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Alkermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Alkermes from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.33.

Alkermes Stock Performance

Shares of ALKS opened at $34.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a PE ratio of 15.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.49. Alkermes has a 52-week low of $22.90 and a 52-week high of $36.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.58.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Alkermes will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alkermes

In related news, Director Cato T. Laurencin sold 2,691 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $732,964.05. This represents a 10.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 144,419 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total value of $5,131,207.07. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,875 shares in the company, valued at $2,056,298.75. This trade represents a 71.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 309,179 shares of company stock valued at $10,412,450 in the last ninety days. 4.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Alkermes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alkermes by 106.2% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alkermes by 2,231.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 558.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 2,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in shares of Alkermes in the 4th quarter valued at $98,000. Institutional investors own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

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.