Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS - Free Report) by 57.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,332 shares of the company's stock after selling 54,200 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Alkermes were worth $1,299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ALKS. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alkermes during the fourth quarter worth approximately $70,462,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Alkermes during the fourth quarter worth approximately $56,684,000. RTW Investments LP grew its position in shares of Alkermes by 13.6% during the fourth 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 grew 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 during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Alkermes by 147.4% during the fourth 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alkermes Stock Performance

ALKS stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $29.41. The stock had a trading volume of 451,447 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,724,884. The company's 50 day moving average price is $30.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.88. Alkermes plc has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $36.45. The stock has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 3,334 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 86,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,680,206.72. The trade was a 3.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 4.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ALKS. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Alkermes from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Alkermes in a report on Tuesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Alkermes from $40.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $40.92.

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.