Short Interest in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) Increases By 21.1%

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 14,010,000 shares, a growth of 21.1% from the February 13th total of 11,570,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.3 days. Currently, 8.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ALKS. UBS Group upgraded Alkermes from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Alkermes in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.46.

Alkermes Price Performance

Shares of ALKS stock opened at $34.37 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a PE ratio of 15.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.62. Alkermes has a 52 week low of $22.90 and a 52 week high of $36.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $32.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.94.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 100,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.05, for a total value of $3,234,421.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,419,494.50. This represents a 69.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 4.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ALKS. RTW Investments LP lifted its position in shares of Alkermes by 13.6% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,478,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,568,000 after buying an additional 57,697 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Alkermes by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,450,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,242,000 after acquiring an additional 209,740 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Alkermes by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,019,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,842,000 after purchasing an additional 128,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avoro Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alkermes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $70,462,000. 95.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.