Quantessence Capital LLC Buys Shares of 12,477 Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Quantessence Capital LLC purchased a new position in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 12,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $359,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Alkermes in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alkermes by 106.2% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 842 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Alkermes by 2,231.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,702 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Alkermes by 558.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the company's stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 2,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Alkermes in the 4th quarter valued at $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.21% of the company's stock.

Alkermes Stock Performance

ALKS traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $27.84. The company had a trading volume of 466,507 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,754,189. Alkermes plc has a twelve month low of $22.90 and a twelve month high of $36.45. The company has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of 12.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.39. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $31.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.43.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.11. Alkermes had a net margin of 23.57% and a return on equity of 30.80%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALKS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $40.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group upgraded Alkermes from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. HC Wainwright restated a "neutral" rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $38.50.

Insider Activity

In other Alkermes news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 100,918 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.05, for a total transaction of $3,234,421.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,419,494.50. This represents a 69.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by 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.