Blue Trust Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 2,394.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,821 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,748 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $51,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Alkermes in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Alkermes by 83.8% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917 shares during the period. Archer Investment Corp raised its position in Alkermes by 28.6% in the third quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in Alkermes by 18.8% in the third 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 period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Alkermes by 17.9% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 904 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Cato T. Laurencin sold 2,691 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.85, for a total value of $85,708.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $732,964.05. The trade was a 10.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 5,208 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.15, for a total transaction of $151,813.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 60,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,769,492.45. This trade represents a 7.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 179,189 shares of company stock worth $5,723,518 in the last 90 days. 4.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alkermes Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of ALKS stock opened at $31.57 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $5.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.19, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.49. Alkermes plc has a 52 week low of $22.90 and a 52 week high of $32.88. The company has a quick ratio of 3.03, a current ratio of 3.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ALKS. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of Alkermes from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Alkermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Alkermes from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alkermes presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.00.

Alkermes Company Profile

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.