Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Holdings in Alkermes plc $ALKS

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its holdings in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 429,497 shares of the company’s stock after selling 70,126 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $12,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 65.1% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 36.4% in the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 16,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $471,000 after purchasing an additional 4,498 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alkermes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 106.1% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 30,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,000 after purchasing an additional 15,700 shares during the period. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in shares of Alkermes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

Alkermes Stock Up 3.5%

Shares of Alkermes stock opened at $42.76 on Thursday. Alkermes plc has a 52-week low of $25.17 and a 52-week high of $42.87. The company has a 50 day moving average of $35.33 and a 200 day moving average of $32.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.51 and a beta of 0.38.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter. Alkermes had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The company had revenue of $384.55 million for the quarter. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alkermes plc will post -0.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alkermes news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.67, for a total transaction of $375,030.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 77,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,224,799.63. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP David Joseph Gaffin sold 2,034 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.20, for a total transaction of $67,528.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 231,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,687,725.60. The trade was a 0.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 31,068 shares of company stock worth $1,133,064. 4.59% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Alkermes from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Alkermes from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Alkermes from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.40.

Alkermes Company Profile

Alkermes plc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative medicines to address unmet needs in the central nervous system (CNS). The company applies its proprietary drug delivery technologies and therapeutic expertise to advance treatments for addiction, schizophrenia, bipolar I disorder and depression. Alkermes’ portfolio includes both commercial products and a pipeline of investigational therapies designed to improve patient outcomes and support long-term disease management.

Alkermes’ commercial franchise features several approved products.