Blue Trust Inc. Purchases 1,629 Shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 2,231.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,702 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,629 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $49,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ALKS. Archer Investment Corp raised its holdings in Alkermes by 28.6% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 774 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Alkermes by 17.9% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in Alkermes in the third quarter worth $216,000. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. acquired a new stake in Alkermes during the third quarter worth $223,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Alkermes from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Alkermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $25.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alkermes presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.36.

Alkermes Price Performance

Shares of Alkermes stock opened at $34.93 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.16. Alkermes plc has a one year low of $22.90 and a one year high of $36.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.49.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Cato T. Laurencin sold 2,691 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.85, for a total value of $85,708.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $732,964.05. This trade represents a 10.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 61,151 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.07, for a total transaction of $1,961,112.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,525,762.32. The trade was a 56.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 318,400 shares of company stock valued at $10,702,911. 4.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.