Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 78,200 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,400 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $2,249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Savant Capital LLC raised its position in Alkermes by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 11,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 1,152 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in Alkermes by 37.6% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 15,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $456,000 after acquiring an additional 4,335 shares during the period. Choreo LLC raised its position in Alkermes by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 23,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after acquiring an additional 3,737 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Alkermes by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 34,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $987,000 after acquiring an additional 2,637 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Alkermes by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 122,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,523,000 after buying an additional 26,980 shares during the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 144,419 shares of Alkermes stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total value 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 $2,056,298.75. The trade was a 71.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 5,208 shares of Alkermes 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,703 shares in the company, valued at $1,769,492.45. The trade was a 7.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 323,608 shares of company stock valued at $10,854,725. 4.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alkermes Stock Down 0.3 %

ALKS stock opened at $35.89 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.45, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Alkermes plc has a twelve month low of $22.90 and a twelve month high of $36.25. The company’s 50 day moving average is $30.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.73. The stock has a market cap of $5.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.41, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.49.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.11. Alkermes had a net margin of 22.15% and a return on equity of 24.92%. Research analysts expect that Alkermes plc will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALKS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Alkermes from $32.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Alkermes in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Alkermes in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.25.

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.