Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Given “Neutral” Rating at HC Wainwright

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at HC Wainwright in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $35.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective points to a potential upside of 47.31% from the stock’s current price.

ALKS has been the topic of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Alkermes in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. TheStreet raised Alkermes from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Alkermes from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Alkermes from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group lowered Alkermes from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.38.

Alkermes Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ALKS opened at $23.76 on Friday. Alkermes has a 1-year low of $22.01 and a 1-year high of $33.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.02 billion, a PE ratio of 11.48, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s 50 day moving average is $27.90 and its 200-day moving average is $27.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.29). The firm had revenue of $377.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.78 million. Alkermes had a return on equity of 16.10% and a net margin of 21.39%. Alkermes’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.02) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Alkermes will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Alkermes announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Alkermes

In other Alkermes news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 10,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.10, for a total value of $292,717.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 65,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,852,099.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 4.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Alkermes by 81.4% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 377,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,472,000 after acquiring an additional 169,385 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 15.7% during the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 308,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,642,000 after buying an additional 41,753 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 10.0% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,461,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,930,000 after buying an additional 133,357 shares in the last quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 141.6% during the third quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC now owns 47,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,327,000 after buying an additional 27,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 52.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,746,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,028,000 after buying an additional 4,055,926 shares in the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.