Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Makes New $246,000 Investment in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its holdings in Alkermes by 22.4% during the 1st quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 139,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,600,000 after acquiring an additional 25,493 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 76.3% in the 1st quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 25,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $837,000 after purchasing an additional 10,966 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 120,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,995,000 after purchasing an additional 28,596 shares during the last quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 103.8% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 110,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,640,000 after purchasing an additional 56,138 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

Alkermes Stock Performance

Shares of ALKS stock opened at $26.71 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $28.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.66. Alkermes plc has a 52 week low of $25.56 and a 52 week high of $36.45.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $390.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $343.20 million. Alkermes had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 24.86%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. Analysts forecast that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALKS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Alkermes from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Alkermes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $33.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alkermes presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alkermes 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 transaction of $103,654.06. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 86,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,680,206.72. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 4.40% 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.