Avanza Fonder AB Purchases Shares of 8,136 Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,136 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALKS. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alkermes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $70,462,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alkermes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,684,000. RTW Investments LP lifted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 13.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 109.5% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 147.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 889,472 shares of the company's stock worth $25,581,000 after acquiring an additional 529,962 shares during the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 3,333 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total transaction of $106,489.35. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 89,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,860,866.90. This represents a 3.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 4.40% of the company's stock.

Alkermes Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:ALKS traded down $0.41 on Monday, reaching $29.42. The company had a trading volume of 1,791,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,735,117. Alkermes plc has a 52-week low of $22.90 and a 52-week high of $36.45. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $29.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a PE ratio of 13.56, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.47.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS - Get Free Report) last announced 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). Alkermes had a net margin of 23.57% and a return on equity of 30.80%. The company had revenue of $306.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $307.53 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ALKS. UBS Group reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Alkermes to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Alkermes from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Alkermes from $40.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC started coverage on Alkermes in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $38.85.

Alkermes 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.