StockNews.com Downgrades Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) to Hold

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Friday.

ALKS has been the topic of several other research reports. TheStreet raised Alkermes from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group lowered shares of Alkermes from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $25.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Alkermes in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Alkermes from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.38.

Alkermes Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ ALKS opened at $24.05 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $26.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.73. Alkermes has a 12 month low of $22.01 and a 12 month high of $33.71. The company has a current ratio of 3.20, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.61.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.15). Alkermes had a return on equity of 20.31% and a net margin of 25.17%. The company had revenue of $350.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $360.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.10) earnings per share. Alkermes’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Alkermes will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alkermes announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 15th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alkermes news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 10,417 shares of the company’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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 65,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,852,099.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 4.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alkermes

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alkermes by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Alkermes by 0.6% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 76,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,130,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 0.4% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 122,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,443,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alkermes by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,663,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Alkermes by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 143,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,012,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the period. 95.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.