abrdn plc Makes New Investment in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

abrdn plc bought a new position in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 323,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,972,000. abrdn plc owned approximately 0.19% of Alkermes as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ALKS. Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Alkermes in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alkermes in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Alkermes in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Alkermes by 166.4% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com lowered Alkermes from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Bank of America upped their target price on Alkermes from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. TheStreet upgraded Alkermes from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, UBS Group lowered Alkermes from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $25.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Alkermes has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alkermes news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 10,417 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 accessible through this link. Company insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

Alkermes Stock Performance

Shares of ALKS opened at $24.68 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.92, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $27.30 and a 200 day moving average of $26.87. Alkermes plc has a 12 month low of $22.01 and a 12 month high of $33.71.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $377.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $362.78 million. Alkermes had a net margin of 21.39% and a return on equity of 16.10%. The business’s revenue was up 23.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.02) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alkermes plc will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Alkermes announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 15th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Alkermes 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.