Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 32,581 Shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 31.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 137,567 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,581 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.09% of Alkermes worth $3,956,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Alkermes by 2,394.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,748 shares during the period. Archer Investment Corp boosted its position in shares of Alkermes by 28.6% in the third quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Alkermes by 18.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Alkermes by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 904 shares during the period. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in Alkermes during the third quarter valued at $216,000. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alkermes Price Performance

ALKS stock opened at $35.84 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.49. Alkermes plc has a 1 year low of $22.90 and a 1 year high of $36.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $30.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.93.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 23.57% and a return on equity of 30.80%. As a group, analysts expect that Alkermes plc will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ALKS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Alkermes from $32.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $37.00 target price (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Alkermes in a report on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Alkermes from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on Alkermes from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised 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 research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 144,419 shares of Alkermes stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total transaction of $5,131,207.07. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 5,208 shares of Alkermes stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.15, for a total value of $151,813.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,703 shares in the company, valued at $1,769,492.45. This trade represents a 7.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 323,608 shares of company stock valued at $10,854,725. 4.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alkermes 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.