Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 13,710,000 shares, a decline of 17.2% from the November 15th total of 16,560,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,730,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.9 days. Approximately 8.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Alkermes Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Alkermes stock opened at $30.51 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a PE ratio of 15.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 3.45, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $28.54 and its 200 day moving average is $27.02. Alkermes has a 1 year low of $22.90 and a 1 year high of $32.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ALKS. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Alkermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $36.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Alkermes from $32.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Alkermes from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of Alkermes from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.42.

Insider Activity at Alkermes

In other news, Director Cato T. Laurencin sold 2,691 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.85, for a total value of $85,708.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $732,964.05. The trade was a 10.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 61,151 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.07, for a total value of $1,961,112.57. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,525,762.32. The trade was a 56.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 147,738 shares of company stock worth $4,572,904. 4.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alkermes

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ALKS. Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Alkermes during the third quarter valued at $367,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alkermes by 190.3% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 36,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,021,000 after acquiring an additional 23,921 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in Alkermes in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,285,000. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC increased its position in Alkermes by 766.7% during the 2nd quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC now owns 650,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,665,000 after purchasing an additional 575,000 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in shares of Alkermes in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,807,000. 95.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.