Fisher Asset Management LLC Grows Position in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 27.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 331,359 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 70,574 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $9,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ALKS. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in Alkermes in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $367,000. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 190.3% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 36,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,021,000 after purchasing an additional 23,921 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alkermes by 254.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 32,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $944,000 after buying an additional 23,541 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Alkermes by 74.7% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 149,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,184,000 after buying an additional 63,939 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Alkermes by 108.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 423,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,867,000 after buying an additional 220,893 shares in the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on ALKS shares. StockNews.com upgraded Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Alkermes from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $21.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Alkermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $36.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.33.

Insider Transactions at Alkermes

In other news, Director Cato T. Laurencin sold 2,691 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.85, for a total transaction of $85,708.35. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $732,964.05. This represents a 10.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 61,151 shares of Alkermes stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.07, for a total value of $1,961,112.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,525,762.32. This trade represents a 56.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 318,400 shares of company stock valued at $10,702,911. 4.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alkermes Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ ALKS opened at $35.40 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $31.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.51. Alkermes plc has a 52-week low of $22.90 and a 52-week high of $36.45. The firm has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.49.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.11. Alkermes had a return on equity of 30.80% and a net margin of 23.57%. Analysts anticipate that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alkermes 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.