Virtu Financial LLC Takes Position in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 21,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $626,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ALKS. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in Alkermes by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 9,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alkermes by 106.2% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Alkermes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Alkermes by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 30,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $890,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Alkermes by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 23,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $662,000 after acquiring an additional 967 shares during the period. 95.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 144,419 shares of Alkermes stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total transaction of $5,131,207.07. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 4.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ALKS. UBS Group raised Alkermes from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $21.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.46.

Alkermes Price Performance

ALKS stock opened at $33.88 on Wednesday. Alkermes plc has a one year low of $22.90 and a one year high of $36.45. The stock has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $33.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.17.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.11. Alkermes had a net margin of 23.57% and a return on equity of 30.80%. Research analysts anticipate 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.