Alliancebernstein L.P. Lowers Stock Holdings in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lowered its holdings in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 44.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 391,166 shares of the company’s stock after selling 317,965 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.24% of Alkermes worth $11,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alkermes in the fourth quarter valued at $56,684,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Alkermes by 147.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 889,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,581,000 after acquiring an additional 529,962 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Alkermes in the fourth quarter valued at $12,293,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in Alkermes by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 2,302,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,232,000 after acquiring an additional 419,969 shares during the last quarter. Finally, C WorldWide Group Holding A S acquired a new position in Alkermes in the fourth quarter valued at $7,190,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ALKS. StockNews.com upgraded Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Alkermes in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Alkermes from $40.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.50.

Insider Activity at Alkermes

In related news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 100,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.05, for a total value of $3,234,421.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,419,494.50. The trade was a 69.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 4.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alkermes Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ALKS opened at $28.81 on Thursday. Alkermes plc has a one year low of $22.90 and a one year high of $36.45. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.45. The stock has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.39.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.11. Alkermes had a return on equity of 30.80% and a net margin of 23.57%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

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.