Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Lowers Position in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its holdings in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 54,489 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,118 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $1,567,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in shares of Alkermes by 365.5% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,882,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,704,000 after buying an additional 1,478,422 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Alkermes by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 899,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,877,000 after buying an additional 21,821 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Alkermes in the third quarter worth $16,126,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of Alkermes by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 464,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,365,000 after buying an additional 1,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alkermes in the fourth quarter worth $12,293,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alkermes

In other Alkermes news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 100,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.05, for a total transaction of $3,234,421.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,419,494.50. This represents a 69.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 4.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alkermes Trading Up 2.0 %

ALKS opened at $34.60 on Friday. Alkermes plc has a 12 month low of $22.90 and a 12 month high of $36.45. The company has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.62. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $32.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.04.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALKS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. UBS Group raised Alkermes from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.46.

Alkermes 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.