Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

Equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS - Get Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set a "buy" rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's target price indicates a potential upside of 44.83% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Alkermes from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Alkermes from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $33.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $40.92.

Alkermes Price Performance

Alkermes stock opened at $29.69 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a PE ratio of 14.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.44. The company's 50-day moving average is $30.12 and its 200-day moving average is $30.91. Alkermes has a fifty-two week low of $23.12 and a fifty-two week high of $36.45.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.19). Alkermes had a net margin of 23.30% and a return on equity of 27.52%. The company had revenue of $306.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $307.53 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Alkermes will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 3,334 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.09, for a total transaction of $103,654.06. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 86,208 shares in the company, valued at $2,680,206.72. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alkermes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ALKS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Alkermes by 488.6% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,234,995 shares of the company's stock valued at $172,860,000 after acquiring an additional 4,345,523 shares during the last quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Alkermes in the 4th quarter worth about $70,462,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Alkermes in the 1st quarter worth about $66,689,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Alkermes in the 4th quarter worth about $56,684,000. Finally, RTW Investments LP grew its stake in Alkermes by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 7,557,835 shares of the company's stock worth $217,363,000 after acquiring an additional 903,802 shares in the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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