E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 17.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,573 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,723 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Emerald Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alkermes during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Alkermes in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Alkermes during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Alkermes during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALKS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lowered shares of Alkermes from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $25.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Alkermes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Alkermes from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Alkermes in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 10,417 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.10, for a total value of $292,717.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 65,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,852,099.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alkermes Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ALKS traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.10. 1,096,632 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,879,932. The stock has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a PE ratio of 9.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s fifty day moving average is $26.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.68. Alkermes plc has a one year low of $22.01 and a one year high of $33.71. The company has a current ratio of 3.20, a quick ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last posted its 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). Alkermes had a net margin of 25.17% and a return on equity of 20.31%. The business had revenue of $350.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $360.26 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.10) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Alkermes plc will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Alkermes declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 15th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.