Simplicity Solutions LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Simplicity Solutions LLC lifted its position in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 88.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,669 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,609 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $684,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 87.9% in the fourth quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 119,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,328,000 after buying an additional 56,141 shares in the last quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC raised its stake in Alkermes by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 52,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,458,000 after purchasing an additional 12,496 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Alkermes by 81.4% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 377,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,472,000 after purchasing an additional 169,385 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Alkermes by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 91,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,534,000 after purchasing an additional 3,670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new stake in Alkermes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,370,000. 95.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alkermes

In other news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 10,417 shares of Alkermes stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.10, for a total value of $292,717.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 65,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,852,099.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ALKS. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Alkermes from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Alkermes from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group cut shares of Alkermes from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $25.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of Alkermes from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.25.

Alkermes Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Alkermes stock opened at $24.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a current ratio of 2.86. Alkermes plc has a 52-week low of $22.01 and a 52-week high of $33.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $27.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.05.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.29). The company had revenue of $377.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $362.78 million. Alkermes had a net margin of 21.39% and a return on equity of 16.10%. The business’s revenue was up 23.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.02) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Alkermes plc will post 2.23 EPS for the current year.

Alkermes announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 15th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Alkermes Company 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.