Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) Short Interest Update

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,740,000 shares, a drop of 14.1% from the December 31st total of 12,500,000 shares. Approximately 6.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,660,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.5 days.

Alkermes Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ALKS opened at $31.91 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 has a 1 year low of $22.90 and a 1 year high of $32.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.25. The firm has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.49.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alkermes

In other news, Director Cato T. Laurencin sold 2,691 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was 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 owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $732,964.05. This represents a 10.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 10,471 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.53, for a total value of $309,208.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 99,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,930,498.14. This trade represents a 9.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 147,738 shares of company stock valued at $4,572,904. 4.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alkermes

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALKS. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in Alkermes by 365.5% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,882,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,704,000 after buying an additional 1,478,422 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. acquired a new position in Alkermes during the third quarter worth $16,126,000. Barclays PLC increased its position in Alkermes by 108.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 423,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,867,000 after buying an additional 220,893 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its position in Alkermes by 218.4% during the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 270,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,576,000 after buying an additional 185,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HealthInvest Partners AB increased its position in Alkermes by 243.9% during the third quarter. HealthInvest Partners AB now owns 236,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,623,000 after buying an additional 167,810 shares during the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALKS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Alkermes from $32.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Alkermes from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Alkermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $25.00 to $36.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $37.00 target price (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Alkermes in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of Alkermes in a report on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.00.

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.