Vanguard Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,496,185 shares of the company’s stock after selling 475,452 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.43% of Alkermes worth $531,950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Alkermes during the 3rd quarter worth $16,126,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Alkermes during the fourth quarter valued at $12,293,000. C WorldWide Group Holding A S bought a new stake in Alkermes during the fourth quarter valued at about $7,190,000. Barclays PLC increased its position in Alkermes by 108.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 423,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,867,000 after buying an additional 220,893 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alkermes by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,450,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,242,000 after buying an additional 209,740 shares during the period. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised Alkermes from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $21.00 to $38.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alkermes has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.38.

Insider Transactions at Alkermes

In related news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 144,419 shares of Alkermes stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 71.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.89% of the company’s stock.

Alkermes Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Alkermes stock opened at $33.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.22, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $33.53 and a 200 day moving average of $30.36. Alkermes plc has a 12 month low of $22.90 and a 12 month high of $36.45.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 EPS 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.