Alkermes Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Key Points

• Alkermes plc experienced a significant increase in options trading with 2,119 call options purchased, marking a 188% rise compared to its average daily volume.
• The company's stock declined by 5.0% to $28.45, accompanied by a trading volume exceeding its average at 5,511,323 shares.
• Alkermes reported a Q2 EPS of $0.52, surpassing analysts' expectations, but its revenue was down 2.1% year-over-year at $390.66 million.

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors acquired 2,119 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 188% compared to the average volume of 735 call options.

Alkermes Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ALKS traded down $0.74 during trading on Friday, hitting $26.97. 2,480,906 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,863,509. The business's fifty day moving average is $28.23 and its 200 day moving average is $29.87. Alkermes has a fifty-two week low of $25.17 and a fifty-two week high of $36.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.53.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.10. Alkermes had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 24.86%. The firm had revenue of $390.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $343.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Alkermes has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.030-1.210 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Alkermes will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alkermes

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALKS. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Alkermes by 45.8% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 217,980 shares of the company's stock worth $6,269,000 after acquiring an additional 68,487 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of Alkermes by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 18,362 shares of the company's stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Alkermes by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 10,645 shares of the company's stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 999 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Alkermes by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 100,032 shares of the company's stock worth $2,877,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alkermes by 109.5% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,659,821 shares of the company's stock worth $47,736,000 after acquiring an additional 867,492 shares in the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Alkermes from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. HC Wainwright reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Alkermes from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC set a $43.00 target price on shares of Alkermes in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Alkermes to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.85.

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.