Cerity Partners LLC Has $511,000 Stock Holdings in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,930 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,234 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $511,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ALKS. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alkermes in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alkermes by 106.2% in 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. boosted its position in Alkermes by 2,231.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alkermes by 558.5% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alkermes during the fourth quarter worth $203,000. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ALKS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Alkermes from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $38.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Alkermes from $40.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alkermes has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.50.

Alkermes Stock Performance

ALKS opened at $27.00 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $32.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.43. Alkermes plc has a 1-year low of $22.90 and a 1-year high of $36.45.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.11. Alkermes had a return on equity of 30.80% and a net margin of 23.57%. On average, research analysts forecast that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 144,419 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total value of $5,131,207.07. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,056,298.75. This trade represents a 71.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.89% of the company’s stock.

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.