Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) Shares Acquired by E Fund Management Co. Ltd.

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 17.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,573 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,723 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 6.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Alkermes by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 76,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,130,000 after buying an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Alkermes by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 122,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,443,000 after buying an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Alkermes by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,663,000 after buying an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Alkermes by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 143,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,012,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 10,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.10, for a total transaction of $292,717.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 65,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,852,099.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

Alkermes Stock Performance

Shares of ALKS traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $24.10. The stock had a trading volume of 1,096,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,879,932. The company has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a PE ratio of 9.53, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.68. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Alkermes plc has a fifty-two week low of $22.01 and a fifty-two week high of $33.71.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.15). Alkermes had a net margin of 25.17% and a return on equity of 20.31%. The firm had revenue of $350.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $360.26 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.10) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Alkermes plc will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Alkermes announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on ALKS. UBS Group downgraded Alkermes from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Alkermes in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Alkermes from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of Alkermes in a report on Monday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.38.

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.