Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Buys New Holdings in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 7,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Alkermes in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Alkermes by 2,231.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Alkermes by 558.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 2,502 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Alkermes by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Alkermes in the 4th quarter worth approximately $203,000. Institutional investors own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on ALKS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Alkermes in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Alkermes in a report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group upgraded Alkermes from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $38.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. 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 assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alkermes has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.46.

Alkermes Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ ALKS opened at $33.92 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.00. The firm has a market cap of $5.52 billion, a PE ratio of 15.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.62. Alkermes plc has a twelve month low of $22.90 and a twelve month high of $36.45.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alkermes

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 4.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.