Xponance Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Xponance Inc. increased its stake in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,554 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 976 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $534,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ALKS. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alkermes in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 106.2% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 2,231.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alkermes by 558.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 2,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Alkermes during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

Alkermes Price Performance

Shares of ALKS stock opened at $33.88 on Wednesday. Alkermes plc has a 1-year low of $22.90 and a 1-year high of $36.45. The company has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $33.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.17.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last released its 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Alkermes

In other Alkermes news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 100,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.05, for a total transaction of $3,234,421.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,419,494.50. This represents a 69.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 4.89% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALKS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Alkermes in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. UBS Group raised Alkermes from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.46.

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.