Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 928,865 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 29,101 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.56% of Alkermes worth $30,671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ALKS. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Alkermes by 106.2% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in Alkermes in the 1st quarter valued at $49,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Alkermes by 54.4% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,479 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Alkermes in the 4th quarter valued at $98,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Alkermes by 31.9% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on ALKS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Alkermes from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Alkermes to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $40.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $40.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 3,334 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $2,680,206.72. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.40% of the company's stock.

Alkermes Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:ALKS traded down $0.18 on Friday, reaching $30.28. 1,483,309 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,734,258. Alkermes plc has a 1-year low of $23.12 and a 1-year high of $36.45. The firm has a market cap of $4.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a 50-day moving average of $30.18 and a 200-day moving average of $30.88.

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

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.