Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock from $54.00 to $61.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Alkermes traded as high as $48.32 and last traded at $48.11, with a volume of 2451741 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $46.02.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on ALKS. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Alkermes from $45.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Alkermes from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Alkermes from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Alkermes from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alkermes presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.06.

Insider Transactions at Alkermes

In other Alkermes news, EVP David Joseph Gaffin sold 2,034 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.05, for a total value of $87,563.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 229,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,881,008.20. The trade was a 0.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Christopher I. Wright sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.10, for a total transaction of $90,200.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,158,168. The trade was a 7.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 35,102 shares of company stock worth $1,310,828 over the last 90 days. 4.59% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Alkermes by 2.0% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 688,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,348,000 after purchasing an additional 13,689 shares in the last quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Alkermes in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $855,000. Stempoint Capital LP acquired a new position in Alkermes during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,846,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Alkermes by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 154,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,447,000 after purchasing an additional 8,212 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its position in Alkermes by 99.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 64,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,288,000 after purchasing an additional 32,327 shares during the period. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alkermes Trading Up 4.7%

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.81 billion, a PE ratio of 58.70 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter. Alkermes had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 9.78%.The firm had revenue of $384.55 million for the quarter. Analysts expect that Alkermes plc will post -0.43 earnings per share for the current year.

About Alkermes

Alkermes plc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative medicines to address unmet needs in the central nervous system (CNS). The company applies its proprietary drug delivery technologies and therapeutic expertise to advance treatments for addiction, schizophrenia, bipolar I disorder and depression. Alkermes’ portfolio includes both commercial products and a pipeline of investigational therapies designed to improve patient outcomes and support long-term disease management.

Alkermes’ commercial franchise features several approved products.