Strs Ohio Sells 25,200 Shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Strs Ohio trimmed its position in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 49.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,200 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $712,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Emerald Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Alkermes in the third quarter worth $27,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Alkermes by 147.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alkermes in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in Alkermes in the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alkermes during the third quarter worth approximately $53,000. 95.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Alkermes

In related news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 10,417 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 65,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,852,099.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

Alkermes Stock Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ ALKS opened at $24.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.50, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Alkermes plc has a 52 week low of $22.01 and a 52 week high of $33.71. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.89. The firm has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 11.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.55.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.29). The firm had revenue of $377.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.78 million. Alkermes had a return on equity of 16.10% and a net margin of 21.39%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.02) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alkermes plc will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on ALKS shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Alkermes from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com cut Alkermes from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a report on Friday, April 19th. Robert W. Baird started coverage on Alkermes in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Alkermes from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alkermes has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.38.

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.