Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Earns “Neutral” Rating from HC Wainwright

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reiterated by equities researchers at HC Wainwright in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $35.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 48.24% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Alkermes from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. TheStreet upgraded Alkermes from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group downgraded Alkermes from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $25.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Alkermes from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird began coverage on Alkermes in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. One investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.38.

Alkermes Stock Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ ALKS traded down $0.40 during trading on Thursday, hitting $23.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 838,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,886,387. 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 cap of $3.99 billion, a PE ratio of 11.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.79. Alkermes has a fifty-two week low of $22.01 and a fifty-two week high of $33.71.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $350.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $360.26 million. Alkermes had a net margin of 21.39% and a return on equity of 16.10%. The firm’s revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.10) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alkermes will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alkermes announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes 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 management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alkermes news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 10,417 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.10, for a total transaction 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 approximately $1,852,099.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 4.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alkermes

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALKS. Emerald Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alkermes during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Alkermes by 147.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Alkermes in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Alkermes in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in Alkermes in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 95.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.