Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Shares Up 2.9%

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) shot up 2.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $24.57 and last traded at $24.46. 974,501 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average session volume of 1,896,073 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.77.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ALKS. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Monday, April 1st. TheStreet raised shares of Alkermes from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Alkermes from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Alkermes from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $25.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alkermes currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.25.

Alkermes Trading Up 3.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a current ratio of 2.86. The firm has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a PE ratio of 11.67, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.08.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.29). Alkermes had a return on equity of 16.10% and a net margin of 21.39%. The company had revenue of $377.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $362.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.02) EPS. Alkermes’s quarterly revenue was up 23.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alkermes plc will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alkermes announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 15th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 10,417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.10, for a total value of $292,717.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 65,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,852,099.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 4.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALKS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought a new position in Alkermes in the 1st quarter worth $4,369,000. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Alkermes by 132.4% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 32,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $862,000 after purchasing an additional 18,667 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Alkermes by 24.0% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 2,044 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can purchased a new stake in Alkermes during the 1st quarter valued at about $203,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 660.7% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 21,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $576,000 after acquiring an additional 19,060 shares during the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.