Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $36.70 and last traded at $35.19, with a volume of 734 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $35.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho increased their price target on Alkermes from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Alkermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $25.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. 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 data from MarketBeat, Alkermes presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.33.

Alkermes Stock Down 0.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.51.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.11. Alkermes had a net margin of 23.57% and a return on equity of 30.80%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Alkermes

In other news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 144,419 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total transaction of $5,131,207.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,056,298.75. The trade was a 71.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Cato T. Laurencin sold 2,691 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.85, for a total transaction of $85,708.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $732,964.05. This trade represents a 10.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 318,400 shares of company stock worth $10,702,911. 4.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alkermes during the third quarter worth approximately $281,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Alkermes by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 90,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,522,000 after acquiring an additional 11,289 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in Alkermes by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 9,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,080 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Alkermes by 48.8% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 3,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 40.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 104,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,924,000 after purchasing an additional 29,998 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.21% 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.