Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Alkermes in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Alkermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $25.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on 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 reduced their target price on shares of Alkermes from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on shares of Alkermes from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alkermes presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.08.

Alkermes Stock Up 7.5 %

ALKS opened at $36.00 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 3.45 and a quick ratio of 3.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $30.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.68. Alkermes has a fifty-two week low of $22.90 and a fifty-two week high of $36.06.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last issued its 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 22.15% and a return on equity of 24.92%. On average, analysts anticipate that Alkermes will post 2.23 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 5,208 shares of Alkermes stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,769,492.45. This trade represents a 7.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 100,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.05, for a total value of $3,234,421.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,419,494.50. The trade was a 69.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 179,189 shares of company stock valued at $5,723,518. Insiders own 4.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ALKS. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Alkermes by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 9,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alkermes by 3.9% during the 4th 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. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Alkermes by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. now owns 43,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,227,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 18.8% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Alkermes by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 75,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,168,000 after purchasing an additional 828 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

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.