Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on the stock from $40.00 to $52.00. The stock had previously closed at $33.69, but opened at $34.41. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a buy rating on the stock. Alkermes shares last traded at $34.25, with a volume of 138,247 shares changing hands.

ALKS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group raised shares of Alkermes from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $21.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Alkermes in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alkermes presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.38.

Insider Activity

In other Alkermes news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 144,419 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total value of $5,131,207.07. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,056,298.75. This trade represents a 71.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALKS. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 100,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,877,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Alkermes by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 9,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Alkermes by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 14,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Alkermes by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 75,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,168,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alkermes by 106.2% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

Alkermes Trading Down 0.5 %

The business’s fifty day moving average is $33.38 and its 200 day moving average is $30.22. The company has a market cap of $5.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.45, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.62.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts expect that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.