Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in Alkermes plc $ALKS

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 958,016 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,393 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.58% of Alkermes worth $33,875,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in Alkermes in the third quarter valued at $1,691,000. Profund Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alkermes by 80.9% during the fourth quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 80,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,256,000 after purchasing an additional 36,067 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 390,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,926,000 after purchasing an additional 67,745 shares during the last quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alkermes in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,141,000. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Alkermes by 237.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,544,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,206,000 after purchasing an additional 1,790,729 shares during the period. 95.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Christopher I. Wright sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.10, for a total transaction of $90,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,680 shares in the company, valued at $1,158,168. This represents a 7.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP David Joseph Gaffin sold 2,034 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.03, for a total value of $109,897.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 227,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,291,284.70. This represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,102 shares of company stock valued at $1,494,410. 4.59% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALKS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price target on Alkermes from $53.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Alkermes from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Alkermes from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Alkermes from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Alkermes from $45.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.80.

Alkermes Stock Performance

Shares of ALKS stock opened at $52.72 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.79 billion, a PE ratio of 58.58 and a beta of 0.34. Alkermes plc has a 52-week low of $25.17 and a 52-week high of $55.67. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $45.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

About Alkermes

Alkermes plc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative medicines to address unmet needs in the central nervous system (CNS). The company applies its proprietary drug delivery technologies and therapeutic expertise to advance treatments for addiction, schizophrenia, bipolar I disorder and depression. Alkermes’ portfolio includes both commercial products and a pipeline of investigational therapies designed to improve patient outcomes and support long-term disease management.

Alkermes’ commercial franchise features several approved products.