Needham & Company LLC Issues Positive Forecast for Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Stock Price

Key Points

• Needham & Company LLC raised its price target on Alkermes to $62 from $61 and reiterated a buy rating, implying about 20.8% upside from the current price.
• Other Wall Street firms have also turned more bullish, with multiple analysts lifting targets and issuing outperform/overweight ratings; the consensus view is now Moderate Buy with an average target of $51.25.
• Alkermes shares recently traded at $51.31, near the top of their 52-week range, while the company reported $0.29 EPS and $384.55 million in quarterly revenue in its last earnings release.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $61.00 to $62.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC's price objective points to a potential upside of 20.83% from the company's current price.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Alkermes from $53.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Alkermes from $44.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Alkermes from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Alkermes from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Alkermes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $51.25.

Alkermes Price Performance

Shares of Alkermes stock traded down $0.63 on Monday, hitting $51.31. The company had a trading volume of 362,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,291,038. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The company has a market cap of $8.55 billion, a PE ratio of 56.82 and a beta of 0.34. Alkermes has a 52 week low of $25.17 and a 52 week high of $55.67.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $384.55 million during the quarter. Alkermes had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 9.78%. Research analysts expect that Alkermes will post -0.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alkermes

In other news, EVP David Joseph Gaffin sold 2,034 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.05, for a total value of $87,563.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 229,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,881,008.20. The trade was a 0.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.51, for a total value of $463,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 73,389 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,780,267.39. This represents a 10.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 35,102 shares of company stock worth $1,494,410 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.59% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Alkermes

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Baker BROS. Advisors LP grew its position in Alkermes by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 10,012,267 shares of the company's stock valued at $280,143,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,916 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Alkermes by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,472,858 shares of the company's stock worth $265,051,000 after buying an additional 932,507 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 6,668,028 shares of the company's stock worth $186,571,000 after buying an additional 375,500 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 32.0% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,184,547 shares of the company's stock valued at $145,064,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256,377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,522,378 shares of the company's stock valued at $159,850,000 after acquiring an additional 109,595 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.21% of the company's stock.

Alkermes Company Profile

Alkermes plc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative medicines to address unmet needs in the central nervous system (CNS). The company applies its proprietary drug delivery technologies and therapeutic expertise to advance treatments for addiction, schizophrenia, bipolar I disorder and depression. Alkermes' portfolio includes both commercial products and a pipeline of investigational therapies designed to improve patient outcomes and support long-term disease management.

Alkermes' commercial franchise features several approved products.

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