Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on ALKS. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Alkermes from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. HC Wainwright reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of Alkermes in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They set an outperform rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group cut shares of Alkermes from a neutral rating to a sell rating and set a $25.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an overweight rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $35.38.

Alkermes Stock Performance

Shares of ALKS stock traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $24.05. The stock had a trading volume of 1,347,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,980,594. The firm has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a PE ratio of 9.51, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 3.20 and a quick ratio of 2.50. Alkermes has a fifty-two week low of $22.01 and a fifty-two week high of $33.71.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.15). Alkermes had a net margin of 25.17% and a return on equity of 20.31%. The firm had revenue of $350.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $360.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.10) EPS. Alkermes’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alkermes will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Alkermes announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 10,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.10, for a total value of $292,717.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 65,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,852,099.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alkermes

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALKS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alkermes by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,955,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $581,304,000 after acquiring an additional 2,288,185 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Alkermes by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,241,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,798,000 after purchasing an additional 3,494,678 shares during the period. RTW Investments LP raised its stake in Alkermes by 338.8% during the fourth quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 3,901,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,228,000 after purchasing an additional 3,012,450 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,761,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,344,000 after purchasing an additional 106,749 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Alkermes by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,403,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,666,000 after buying an additional 90,219 shares during the period. 95.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.