Handelsbanken Fonder AB Trims Stock Holdings in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its holdings in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 217,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,600 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $6,241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Alkermes during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Alkermes by 2,231.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp raised its stake in shares of Alkermes by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Alkermes by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Alkermes by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares during the period. 95.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alkermes Price Performance

ALKS stock opened at $35.33 on Friday. Alkermes plc has a one year low of $22.90 and a one year high of $36.45. The stock has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.07.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 EPS 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 144,419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total value of $5,131,207.07. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,056,298.75. This represents a 71.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Cato T. Laurencin sold 2,691 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.85, for a total transaction of $85,708.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $732,964.05. This trade represents a 10.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 323,608 shares of company stock valued at $10,854,725 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 4.89% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho upped their price target on Alkermes from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.36.

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.