Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Stock Price Down 6.2% Following Analyst Downgrade

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) fell 6.2% on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $42.00 to $37.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Alkermes traded as low as $28.67 and last traded at $29.0780. 2,270,621 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 18% from the average session volume of 1,925,173 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.01.

ALKS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Alkermes from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up from $38.00) on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alkermes has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.31.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.38, for a total transaction of $273,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 69,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,118,701.20. This trade represents a 11.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alkermes

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,208,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,838,000 after buying an additional 185,586 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Alkermes by 488.6% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,234,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,860,000 after acquiring an additional 4,345,523 shares during the period. Baker BROS. Advisors LP raised its position in Alkermes by 7.2% during the first quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 4,483,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,038,000 after acquiring an additional 301,534 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Alkermes by 20.2% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,397,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,924,000 after acquiring an additional 740,248 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Alkermes by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,023,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,128,000 after purchasing an additional 83,858 shares in the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alkermes Trading Down 6.4%

The firm has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.53.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.08. Alkermes had a net margin of 22.27% and a return on equity of 21.81%. The firm had revenue of $394.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $355.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Alkermes has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.360-1.470 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

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.