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

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 14,010,000 shares, a growth of 21.1% from the February 13th total of 11,570,000 shares. Approximately 8.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,690,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.3 days.

Alkermes Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ALKS opened at $34.37 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a PE ratio of 15.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.90. Alkermes has a 1 year low of $22.90 and a 1 year high of $36.45.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.11. Alkermes had a return on equity of 30.80% and a net margin of 23.57%. Equities research analysts expect that Alkermes will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Alkermes

In other Alkermes news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 100,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.05, for a total transaction of $3,234,421.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,419,494.50. The trade was a 69.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 4.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alkermes

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ALKS. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alkermes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 106.2% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 842 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 2,231.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alkermes by 558.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 2,502 shares during the period. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Alkermes during the fourth quarter worth $98,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ALKS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Alkermes in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group raised Alkermes from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.46.

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.