Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $36.25 and last traded at $35.75, with a volume of 2626767 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on ALKS. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Alkermes in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.25.

Alkermes Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 16.36, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $30.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.98.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.11. Alkermes had a net margin of 23.57% and a return on equity of 30.80%. Analysts forecast that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alkermes

In other news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 5,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.15, for a total value of $151,813.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,769,492.45. This trade represents a 7.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 9,221 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.50, for a total transaction of $290,461.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 59,730 shares in the company, valued at $1,881,495. The trade was a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 323,608 shares of company stock valued at $10,854,725 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alkermes

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ALKS. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Alkermes by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 100,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,877,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Alkermes by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 9,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Alkermes by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 14,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Alkermes by 1.7% in the third quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. now owns 43,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,227,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in Alkermes by 18.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 774 shares during the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.