Needham & Company LLC Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $45.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective points to a potential upside of 61.12% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ALKS. UBS Group upgraded Alkermes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $33.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Alkermes from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Alkermes to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Alkermes in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.08.

Alkermes Stock Up 3.4%

NASDAQ ALKS opened at $27.93 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $29.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.43, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.44. Alkermes has a 52 week low of $25.56 and a 52 week high of $36.45.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.10. Alkermes had a return on equity of 24.86% and a net margin of 23.15%. The business had revenue of $390.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $343.20 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alkermes will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 3,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alkermes

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in shares of Alkermes during the 2nd quarter valued at about $159,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 0.7% during the second quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 90,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,584,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in Alkermes by 551.7% during the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 68,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,964,000 after buying an additional 58,102 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its holdings in Alkermes by 21.3% during the second quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 11,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 1,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Alkermes by 5.3% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 216,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,192,000 after purchasing an additional 10,800 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.