UBS Group Cuts Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Price Target to $33.00

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) had its price objective lowered by UBS Group from $38.00 to $33.00 in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Alkermes from $40.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.08.

Alkermes Price Performance

ALKS stock opened at $28.77 on Monday. Alkermes has a 52 week low of $22.90 and a 52 week high of $36.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alkermes 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 in the company, valued at $2,056,298.75. This represents a 71.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alkermes

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALKS. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 46.3% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 26,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $866,000 after purchasing an additional 8,310 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alkermes in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $759,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 4,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 746 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alkermes by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 928,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,671,000 after purchasing an additional 29,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Alkermes by 2.8% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 89,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,962,000 after purchasing an additional 2,425 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.