Primecap Management Co. CA Decreases Holdings in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Key Points

• Primecap Management Co. CA reduced its holdings in Alkermes plc by 3.0%, totaling $99.20 million in stock, after selling 91,415 shares in the first quarter.
• Alkermes received several upgrades from brokerages, with UBS Group raising its price target from $33.00 to $42.00, reflecting a consensus target price of $41.08.
• In its latest earnings report, Alkermes posted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.52, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $390.66 million, though down 2.1% year-over-year.

Primecap Management Co. CA lowered its stake in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,004,095 shares of the company's stock after selling 91,415 shares during the quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA owned approximately 1.82% of Alkermes worth $99,195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALKS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Alkermes by 147.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 889,472 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,581,000 after buying an additional 529,962 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in Alkermes by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 10,577 shares of the company's stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 1,133 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in Alkermes by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 14,203 shares of the company's stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in Alkermes by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 94,020 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,704,000 after buying an additional 24,979 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alkermes by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,594 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,369,000 after purchasing an additional 3,179 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on ALKS. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. 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. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Alkermes to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Three equities research 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.08.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 3,334 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.09, for a total value of $103,654.06. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 86,208 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,680,206.72. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.40% of the company's stock.

Alkermes Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Alkermes stock traded up $0.04 on Monday, reaching $26.75. The stock had a trading volume of 212,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,776,716. Alkermes plc has a 1 year low of $25.56 and a 1 year high of $36.45. The company has a market cap of $4.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.47. The business's 50 day moving average is $28.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.66.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $343.20 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal 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.