Rafferty Asset Management LLC Sells 45,877 Shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS - Free Report) by 18.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 209,580 shares of the company's stock after selling 45,877 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned about 0.13% of Alkermes worth $6,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALKS. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Alkermes by 108.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 423,931 shares of the company's stock worth $11,867,000 after purchasing an additional 220,893 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in shares of Alkermes by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 111,909 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,219,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alkermes by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 93,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,690,000 after acquiring an additional 2,373 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Alkermes by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 30,950 shares of the company's stock valued at $890,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alkermes by 2,394.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,821 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 1,748 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.21% of the company's stock.

Alkermes Stock Performance

ALKS traded up $0.22 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $31.67. 1,686,981 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,761,249. The company's fifty day moving average price is $30.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.77. Alkermes plc has a fifty-two week low of $22.90 and a fifty-two week high of $36.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a PE ratio of 14.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.51.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.19). Alkermes had a net margin of 23.57% and a return on equity of 30.80%. The firm had revenue of $306.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $307.53 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. Alkermes's quarterly revenue was down 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ALKS shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Alkermes from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. HC Wainwright reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Alkermes from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Alkermes to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $38.33.

About Alkermes

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.