Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 1,100 Shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 166.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,761 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $49,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 81.4% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 377,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,472,000 after purchasing an additional 169,385 shares during the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Alkermes by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 308,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,642,000 after buying an additional 41,753 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in Alkermes by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,461,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,930,000 after acquiring an additional 133,357 shares during the last quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 141.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC now owns 47,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 27,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Alkermes by 52.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,746,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $329,028,000 after acquiring an additional 4,055,926 shares during the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 10,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

Alkermes Price Performance

ALKS opened at $24.68 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.50, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.30 and a 200 day moving average of $26.85. Alkermes plc has a 52-week low of $22.01 and a 52-week high of $33.71. The stock has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.92, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.55.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.29). Alkermes had a return on equity of 16.10% and a net margin of 21.39%. The company had revenue of $377.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $362.78 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.02) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alkermes plc will post 2.24 EPS for the current year.

Alkermes announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 15th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ALKS shares. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Friday, April 19th. TheStreet raised shares of Alkermes from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Alkermes from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Alkermes from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered Alkermes from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $25.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alkermes presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.38.

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.