Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $39.66 and last traded at $39.7470, with a volume of 571807 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $38.09.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALKS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Alkermes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Alkermes from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Alkermes from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Truist Financial upgraded Alkermes to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Alkermes from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.40.

Alkermes Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $6.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.96 and a beta of 0.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $33.95 and a 200-day moving average of $31.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Alkermes had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 9.78%.The company had revenue of $384.55 million for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alkermes plc will post -0.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.40, for a total value of $300,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 81,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,718,392.60. This represents a 9.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.20, for a total value of $67,528.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 231,558 shares in the company, valued at $7,687,725.60. This trade represents a 0.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 39,102 shares of company stock valued at $1,265,090 over the last quarter. 4.59% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alkermes

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Baker BROS. Advisors LP boosted its position in Alkermes by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 10,012,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,143,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920,916 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Alkermes by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,472,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,051,000 after acquiring an additional 932,507 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Alkermes by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 6,668,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,571,000 after acquiring an additional 375,500 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Alkermes by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,184,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,064,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256,377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Alkermes by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,522,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,850,000 after acquiring an additional 109,595 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

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.