Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on ALKS. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. TheStreet raised shares of Alkermes from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. They set an outperform rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Alkermes from a neutral rating to a sell rating and set a $25.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $35.38.

Alkermes Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ ALKS opened at $24.05 on Friday. Alkermes has a 52-week low of $22.01 and a 52-week high of $33.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a current ratio of 3.20. The business has a fifty day moving average of $26.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.73. The stock has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a PE ratio of 9.51, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.61.

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). The firm had revenue of $350.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $360.26 million. Alkermes had a net margin of 25.17% and a return on equity of 20.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.10) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alkermes will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alkermes declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Alkermes

In related news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 10,417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.10, for a total value of $292,717.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 65,911 shares in the company, valued at $1,852,099.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 4.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Alkermes by 147.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. acquired a new stake in Alkermes during the 3rd quarter worth $387,000. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Alkermes by 32.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 26,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $745,000 after acquiring an additional 6,510 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Alkermes by 4.0% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,761,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,344,000 after acquiring an additional 106,749 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 7.6% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 29,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $823,000 after acquiring an additional 2,082 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

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.