Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) Shares Sold by Westfield Capital Management Co. LP

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP reduced its stake in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,625,783 shares of the company’s stock after selling 43,830 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $45,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ALKS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Alkermes by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,667,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,870,000 after buying an additional 72,797 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 52.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,746,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,028,000 after acquiring an additional 4,055,926 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Alkermes by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,403,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,666,000 after acquiring an additional 90,219 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alkermes by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,162,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,563,000 after acquiring an additional 114,388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Alkermes in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,548,000. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com lowered Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Alkermes from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. TheStreet raised shares of Alkermes from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.78.

Alkermes Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ ALKS traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $24.02. 1,868,835 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,564,161. The company has a quick ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.49, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50 day moving average of $25.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.65. Alkermes plc has a 52-week low of $22.01 and a 52-week high of $33.71.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $350.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $360.26 million. Alkermes had a return on equity of 20.31% and a net margin of 25.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.10) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alkermes plc will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Alkermes announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 10,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.10, for a total transaction of $292,717.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 65,911 shares in the company, valued at $1,852,099.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.89% of the company’s stock.

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.