Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) Shares Sold by Westfield Capital Management Co. LP

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lessened its stake in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 21.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,282,741 shares of the company’s stock after selling 343,042 shares during the quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned approximately 0.76% of Alkermes worth $34,724,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alkermes by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,663,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alkermes by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 76,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,128,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Alkermes by 36.7% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alkermes in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in 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 recently weighed in on ALKS shares. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.30.

Alkermes Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ALKS traded up $0.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $24.83. The company had a trading volume of 1,552,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,851,590. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $24.22 and its 200 day moving average is $26.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of 9.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.47. Alkermes plc has a twelve month low of $22.01 and a twelve month high of $32.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a current ratio of 3.20.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $350.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $360.26 million. Alkermes had a return on equity of 20.31% and a net margin of 25.17%. The company’s revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.10) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alkermes plc will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

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.