Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

Stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 47.26% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on ALKS. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on Alkermes in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Alkermes from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Alkermes from $40.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Alkermes to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Alkermes from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.92.

Alkermes Stock Performance

NASDAQ ALKS opened at $29.20 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.88. Alkermes has a 52-week low of $24.40 and a 52-week high of $36.45. The stock has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.97, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alkermes

In related news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 3,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.09, for a total value of $103,654.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 86,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,680,206.72. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alkermes

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALKS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Alkermes by 488.6% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,234,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,860,000 after purchasing an additional 4,345,523 shares during the last quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Alkermes during the 4th quarter valued at $70,462,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Alkermes during the 1st quarter valued at $66,689,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alkermes during the 4th quarter valued at $56,684,000. Finally, RTW Investments LP increased its position in Alkermes by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 7,557,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,363,000 after acquiring an additional 903,802 shares during the period. 95.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.