Alkermes plc $ALKS Position Trimmed by Palo Alto Investors LP

Key Points

• Palo Alto Investors LP has reduced its stake in Alkermes plc by 23.4%, now holding 221,513 shares, which represent approximately 1.4% of their total investments.
• Alkermes reported a quarterly EPS of $0.52, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue of $390.66 million, although down 2.1% from last year.
• Analyst ratings for Alkermes have been mixed, with some rating it as a "strong-buy" while others have downgraded their assessments, resulting in a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Palo Alto Investors LP reduced its stake in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS - Free Report) by 23.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 221,513 shares of the company's stock after selling 67,795 shares during the quarter. Alkermes comprises about 1.4% of Palo Alto Investors LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Palo Alto Investors LP owned 0.13% of Alkermes worth $7,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Alkermes during the first quarter valued at about $348,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alkermes by 30.9% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 120,997 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,995,000 after purchasing an additional 28,596 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Alkermes by 31.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,396 shares of the company's stock valued at $178,000 after purchasing an additional 1,305 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Alkermes by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 18,362 shares of the company's stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Alkermes by 54.4% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,479 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ALKS shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Alkermes in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group raised Alkermes from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Alkermes to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Alkermes from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Two investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $41.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 3,334 shares of Alkermes stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.09, for a total value of $103,654.06. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 86,208 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,680,206.72. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.40% of the company's stock.

Alkermes Stock Performance

ALKS traded up $1.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $29.94. The company had a trading volume of 2,501,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,412,814. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $28.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.10. The company has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.39, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.53. Alkermes plc has a 12-month low of $25.56 and a 12-month high of $36.45.

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

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.