Alkermes (ALKS) Set to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Wednesday

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS - Get Free Report) is scheduled to be announcing its earnings results before the market opens on Wednesday, May 1st. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $0.61 per share for the quarter. Investors that wish to listen to the company's conference call can do so using this link.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.29). Alkermes had a net margin of 21.39% and a return on equity of 16.10%. The business had revenue of $377.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.78 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.02) earnings per share. Alkermes's revenue for the quarter was up 23.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect Alkermes to post $2 EPS for the current fiscal year and $2 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Alkermes Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ ALKS traded up $0.39 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,737,017 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,905,309. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.55. Alkermes has a fifty-two week low of $22.01 and a fifty-two week high of $33.71. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Alkermes declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 15th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ALKS. TheStreet upgraded shares of Alkermes from a "c+" rating to a "b" rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Alkermes from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Alkermes in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group downgraded shares of Alkermes from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $25.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Alkermes from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alkermes presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $35.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 10,417 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.10, for a total transaction of $292,717.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 65,911 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,852,099.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 4.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.