Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 283,511 Shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,212,674 shares of the company’s stock after selling 283,511 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.05% of Alkermes worth $601,382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Alkermes by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 100,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,877,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Alkermes by 3.8% in the first 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 in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Alkermes by 3.8% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 12,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Alkermes by 54.4% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Alkermes by 1.8% in the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 39,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 699 shares in the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ALKS shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Alkermes from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a report on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Alkermes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Alkermes in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alkermes currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.08.

Alkermes Stock Performance

Alkermes stock opened at $28.63 on Thursday. Alkermes plc has a fifty-two week low of $25.56 and a fifty-two week high of $36.45. The stock has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a PE ratio of 13.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.59.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 24.86%. The business had revenue of $390.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $343.20 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.