Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,520,000 shares, a decrease of 5.7% from the March 31st total of 14,340,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,970,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALKS has been the topic of several research reports. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Alkermes in a report on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 downgraded Alkermes from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Alkermes from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alkermes currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 10,417 shares of the business’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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 65,911 shares in the company, valued at $1,852,099.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Alkermes by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,955,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $581,304,000 after purchasing an additional 2,288,185 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Alkermes by 29.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,241,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,798,000 after acquiring an additional 3,494,678 shares in the last quarter. RTW Investments LP increased its position in shares of Alkermes by 338.8% during the fourth quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 3,901,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,228,000 after acquiring an additional 3,012,450 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Alkermes by 4.0% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,761,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,344,000 after acquiring an additional 106,749 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,403,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,666,000 after purchasing an additional 90,219 shares during the period. 95.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alkermes Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ALKS opened at $24.01 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.50. The company has a market capitalization of $4.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.55. Alkermes has a 1-year low of $22.01 and a 1-year high of $33.71.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.29). Alkermes had a return on equity of 16.10% and a net margin of 21.39%. The firm had revenue of $377.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $362.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.02) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Alkermes will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alkermes announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 15th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.