Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Upgraded to “Neutral” at UBS Group

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) was upgraded by equities research analysts at UBS Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $38.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $21.00. UBS Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 11.40% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on ALKS. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Alkermes from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Alkermes in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Alkermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alkermes presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.33.

Alkermes Price Performance

Shares of ALKS opened at $34.11 on Tuesday. Alkermes has a 1-year low of $22.90 and a 1-year high of $36.45. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.45. The stock has a market cap of $5.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.49.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.11. Alkermes had a return on equity of 30.80% and a net margin of 23.57%. On average, equities analysts expect that Alkermes will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Cato T. Laurencin sold 2,691 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.85, for a total value of $85,708.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $732,964.05. This represents a 10.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 61,151 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.07, for a total transaction of $1,961,112.57. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,525,762.32. This trade represents a 56.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 318,400 shares of company stock valued at $10,702,911 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alkermes

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Alkermes during the 4th quarter valued at $70,462,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alkermes in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,684,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 365.5% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,882,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,704,000 after buying an additional 1,478,422 shares during the last quarter. RTW Investments LP grew its position in shares of Alkermes by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 7,557,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,363,000 after buying an additional 903,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alkermes by 109.5% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,659,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,736,000 after buying an additional 867,492 shares during the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.