Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $36.25 and last traded at $35.75, with a volume of 2626767 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ALKS shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised Alkermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $25.00 to $36.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho raised 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. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $37.00 price target (down from $38.00) on shares of Alkermes in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.25.

Alkermes Price Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.98. The firm has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 16.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.49.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Alkermes

In other news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 61,151 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.07, for a total transaction of $1,961,112.57. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,525,762.32. The trade was a 56.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 5,208 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.15, for a total transaction of $151,813.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,703 shares in the company, valued at $1,769,492.45. This trade represents a 7.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 323,608 shares of company stock valued at $10,854,725. Corporate insiders own 4.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alkermes

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alkermes during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 106.2% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 842 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 2,231.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 558.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 2,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Alkermes during the 4th quarter worth about $98,000. 95.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.