Short Interest in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) Decreases By 14.1%

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,740,000 shares, a decrease of 14.1% from the December 15th total of 12,500,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,660,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.5 days. Currently, 6.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alkermes

In other news, Director Cato T. Laurencin sold 2,691 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $732,964.05. The trade was a 10.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 5,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.15, for a total transaction of $151,813.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,703 shares in the company, valued at $1,769,492.45. This represents a 7.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 147,738 shares of company stock valued at $4,572,904 in the last quarter. 4.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alkermes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alkermes in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Alkermes by 83.8% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 1,917 shares during the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp boosted its holdings in Alkermes by 28.6% in the third quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Alkermes by 18.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 17.9% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 904 shares in the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alkermes Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of Alkermes stock opened at $29.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.03, a current ratio of 3.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.26, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $29.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.79. Alkermes has a 52-week low of $22.90 and a 52-week high of $32.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ALKS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Alkermes from $32.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $37.00 price target (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Friday, October 25th. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Alkermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of Alkermes from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.00.

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.