Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Decreases Stake in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA cut its holdings in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 819,981 shares of the company’s stock after selling 82,738 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $23,583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alkermes during the 3rd quarter valued at about $439,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Alkermes by 74.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 149,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,184,000 after purchasing an additional 63,939 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Alkermes by 55.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 405,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,347,000 after purchasing an additional 144,506 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in Alkermes by 68.2% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 14,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 5,863 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in Alkermes in the third quarter valued at about $367,000. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ALKS shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group raised Alkermes from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $38.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Alkermes from $40.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alkermes news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 144,419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total transaction of $5,131,207.07. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,875 shares in the company, valued at $2,056,298.75. This represents a 71.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 4.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alkermes Stock Performance

ALKS opened at $33.02 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.22, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.62. Alkermes plc has a fifty-two week low of $22.90 and a fifty-two week high of $36.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $33.53 and a 200 day moving average of $30.36.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last posted its 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 return on equity of 30.80% and a net margin of 23.57%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

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.