Victory Capital Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Key Points

• Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Alkermes plc by 30.9%, owning 120,997 shares valued at approximately $3.995 million after acquiring an additional 28,596 shares in the 1st quarter.
• Several other institutional investors also increased their positions in Alkermes, with Fifth Third Bancorp notably raising its holdings by 54.4%.
• Wall Street analysts have recently upgraded Alkermes, with target prices boosted significantly; for instance, UBS Group raised its target from $33.00 to $42.00, indicating positive market sentiment.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS - Free Report) by 30.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 120,997 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 28,596 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.07% of Alkermes worth $3,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 100,032 shares of the company's stock worth $2,877,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Alkermes by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,362 shares of the company's stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Alkermes by 54.4% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,479 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Alkermes by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 14,203 shares of the company's stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in Alkermes by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 82,680 shares of the company's stock worth $2,730,000 after buying an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alkermes

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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 86,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,680,206.72. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 4.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALKS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upgraded Alkermes from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alkermes to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Alkermes from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Alkermes from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Alkermes from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $40.92.

Alkermes Trading Down 1.5%

ALKS opened at $26.13 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.85. The company has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.44. 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 Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.19). Alkermes had a net margin of 23.30% and a return on equity of 27.52%. The company had revenue of $306.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $307.53 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. Alkermes's revenue was down 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

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.

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