Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Given Buy Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating restated by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $45.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC's price target would indicate a potential upside of 54.00% from the stock's current price.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on ALKS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $40.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Alkermes in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Alkermes in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Alkermes from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $40.92.

Alkermes Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ALKS opened at $29.22 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.44. Alkermes has a 52-week low of $24.48 and a 52-week high of $36.45. The company's 50 day moving average price is $30.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.92.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alkermes

In other news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 3,334 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.09, for a total transaction of $103,654.06. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alkermes

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alkermes by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 16,543 shares of the company's stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 4,269 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alkermes by 36.8% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 49,922 shares of the company's stock worth $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 13,432 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in shares of Alkermes in the fourth quarter worth approximately $433,000. Xponance Inc. increased its position in shares of Alkermes by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 18,554 shares of the company's stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of Alkermes by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 46,338 shares of the company's stock worth $1,333,000 after purchasing an additional 6,018 shares during the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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