Brokerages Set Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) Target Price at $40.00

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $40.00.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ALKS. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Alkermes from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group upgraded Alkermes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alkermes to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th.

Alkermes Stock Performance

NASDAQ ALKS opened at $28.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.87, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $30.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.93. Alkermes has a 52 week low of $22.90 and a 52 week high of $36.45.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $306.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $307.53 million. Alkermes had a net margin of 23.30% and a return on equity of 27.52%. The company’s revenue was down 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alkermes will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 3,334 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.09, for a total value of $103,654.06. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 86,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,680,206.72. This represents a 3.72% 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 this link. Company insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alkermes

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Alkermes by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 477,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,757,000 after acquiring an additional 27,136 shares during the period. Strs Ohio bought a new position in Alkermes in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,403,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alkermes by 2,422.0% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 881,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,100,000 after purchasing an additional 846,861 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alkermes by 25.6% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 85,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,825,000 after purchasing an additional 17,413 shares during the period. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its stake in shares of Alkermes by 105.2% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 9,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 4,752 shares during the period. 95.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alkermes Company 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.