Ritholtz Wealth Management Takes $348,000 Position in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 10,532 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $348,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alkermes during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $70,462,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Alkermes during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,684,000. RTW Investments LP boosted 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 valued at $217,363,000 after buying an additional 903,802 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted 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 valued at $47,736,000 after buying an additional 867,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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 valued at $25,581,000 after buying an additional 529,962 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.21% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ALKS. Wall Street Zen cut Alkermes from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Alkermes from $40.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on Alkermes in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Alkermes from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $40.00.

Alkermes Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ALKS traded up $0.17 during trading on Monday, reaching $29.26. 1,484,649 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,725,153. Alkermes plc has a 52-week low of $22.90 and a 52-week high of $36.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $29.81 and a 200-day moving average of $31.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alkermes news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 3,333 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $106,489.35. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 89,542 shares in the company, valued at $2,860,866.90. This represents a 3.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.