Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 90,772 Shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 66.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,925 shares of the company’s stock after selling 90,772 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $1,321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in Alkermes by 365.5% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,882,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,704,000 after buying an additional 1,478,422 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alkermes by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 899,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,877,000 after acquiring an additional 21,821 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Alkermes during the third quarter worth about $16,126,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Alkermes by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 464,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,365,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in Alkermes by 108.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 423,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,867,000 after purchasing an additional 220,893 shares in the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Alkermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Alkermes from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.36.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Cato T. Laurencin sold 2,691 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.85, for a total value of $85,708.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $732,964.05. This trade represents a 10.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 9,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.50, for a total transaction of $290,461.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 59,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,881,495. This trade represents a 13.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 318,400 shares of company stock valued at $10,702,911. Corporate insiders own 4.89% of the company’s stock.

Alkermes Stock Performance

NASDAQ ALKS opened at $34.33 on Friday. Alkermes plc has a fifty-two week low of $22.90 and a fifty-two week high of $36.45. The stock has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.38.

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

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.