Everence Capital Management Inc. Invests $245,000 in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 8,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $245,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ALKS. Emerald Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alkermes in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Alkermes in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 147.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alkermes in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Alkermes during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ALKS shares. StockNews.com downgraded Alkermes from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird started coverage on Alkermes in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Alkermes from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of Alkermes in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Alkermes from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.25.

Alkermes Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ALKS opened at $23.76 on Friday. Alkermes plc has a fifty-two week low of $22.01 and a fifty-two week high of $33.71. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $27.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.03. The company has a quick ratio of 2.50, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a PE ratio of 11.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.55.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.78 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.02) EPS. Alkermes’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Alkermes plc will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Transactions at Alkermes

In other news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 10,417 shares of Alkermes stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.10, for a total value of $292,717.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 65,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,852,099.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

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.