Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $35.25.

ALKS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Alkermes from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group cut Alkermes from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of Alkermes in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Alkermes from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Monday, April 1st.

Alkermes Trading Up 3.1 %

NASDAQ:ALKS opened at $26.73 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 0.56. Alkermes has a one year low of $22.01 and a one year high of $33.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a current ratio of 2.86. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.21.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.29). The business had revenue of $377.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $362.78 million. Alkermes had a return on equity of 16.10% and a net margin of 21.39%. Alkermes’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.02) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alkermes will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alkermes announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Alkermes news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 10,417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.10, for a total value of $292,717.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 65,911 shares in the company, valued at $1,852,099.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alkermes

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 308,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,642,000 after purchasing an additional 41,753 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 10.0% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,461,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,930,000 after buying an additional 133,357 shares in the last quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Alkermes by 141.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC now owns 47,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 27,774 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 52.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,746,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,028,000 after acquiring an additional 4,055,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 2,097.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 208,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,829,000 after acquiring an additional 198,634 shares during the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by 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.