Short Interest in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) Declines By 14.1%

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) saw a significant decrease in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,740,000 shares, a decrease of 14.1% from the December 15th total of 12,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,660,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.5 days. Approximately 6.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Alkermes

In related news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 5,208 shares of Alkermes stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.15, for a total value of $151,813.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,703 shares in the company, valued at $1,769,492.45. This trade represents a 7.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 58,996 shares of Alkermes stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.08, for a total transaction of $1,774,599.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 83,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,505,664. This represents a 41.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 147,738 shares of company stock worth $4,572,904. Corporate insiders own 4.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Centiva Capital LP bought a new stake in Alkermes during the third quarter worth $367,000. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 23,921 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in Alkermes in the second quarter valued at about $1,285,000. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alkermes by 766.7% during the second quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC now owns 650,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,665,000 after acquiring an additional 575,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 128.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 56,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 31,687 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised Alkermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $25.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Alkermes from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $37.00 price objective (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Alkermes from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Alkermes from $32.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alkermes currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.00.

Alkermes Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ALKS opened at $29.47 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.83. Alkermes has a 1 year low of $22.90 and a 1 year high of $32.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 3.45 and a quick ratio of 3.03. The company has a market capitalization of $4.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.49.

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.