Renaissance Technologies LLC Boosts Position in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,478,728 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 57,697 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 3.39% of Alkermes worth $157,568,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Alkermes by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 17,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $511,000 after purchasing an additional 2,234 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alkermes by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,369,000 after purchasing an additional 3,179 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in shares of Alkermes by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 94,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,704,000 after purchasing an additional 24,979 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alkermes by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 14,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Alkermes by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 10,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 1,133 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 144,419 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.89% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Alkermes from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $38.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Alkermes from $40.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alkermes presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.38.

Alkermes Stock Performance

Alkermes stock opened at $29.49 on Tuesday. Alkermes plc has a fifty-two week low of $22.90 and a fifty-two week high of $36.45. The company has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $33.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.48.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share (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%. On average, analysts forecast that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alkermes 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.