Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Reduces Holdings in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its position in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 125,066 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,246 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Alkermes were worth $3,597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alkermes during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted 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 valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Alkermes by 2,231.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alkermes by 558.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 2,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Alkermes in the fourth quarter valued at $203,000. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Alkermes

In other Alkermes news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 144,419 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total transaction of $5,131,207.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,056,298.75. The trade was a 71.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 4.89% of the company’s stock.

Alkermes Stock Performance

ALKS stock opened at $33.88 on Wednesday. Alkermes plc has a 1 year low of $22.90 and a 1 year high of $36.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $33.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.17.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALKS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. 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 research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Alkermes in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.46.

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.