VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Sells 19,783 Shares of Alkermes plc $ALKS

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al reduced its stake in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 59.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,300 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,783 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Alkermes in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alkermes during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Alkermes by 33.9% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alkermes during the second quarter worth approximately $82,000. Finally, C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Alkermes during the second quarter valued at about $104,000. 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. HC Wainwright increased their target price on shares of Alkermes from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Alkermes from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $63.00 price target (up from $45.00) on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Alkermes in a report on Thursday, September 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.06.

Alkermes Price Performance

Shares of ALKS stock traded up $1.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $45.90. 1,673,316 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,832,351. Alkermes plc has a twelve month low of $27.00 and a twelve month high of $55.67. The firm has a market cap of $7.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2,293.85 and a beta of 0.32. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 2.30.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.17. The company had revenue of $480.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $463.48 million. Alkermes had a return on equity of 4.15% and a net margin of 3.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alkermes plc will post -0.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David Gaffin sold 2,035 shares of Alkermes stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.17, for a total transaction of $93,955.95. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 219,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,127,528.01. The trade was a 0.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.99, for a total transaction of $422,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 65,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,072,629.11. This trade represents a 12.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 22,679 shares of company stock valued at $1,070,940 over the last three months. Company insiders own 4.59% of the company’s stock.

Alkermes Profile

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for central nervous system diseases. Its research and development activities address conditions including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, addiction, depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders.

The company’s marketed products include Vivitrol, an extended-release injectable form of naltrexone used to treat alcohol dependence and prevent relapse to opioid dependence; Aristada and Aristada Initio, long-acting injectable formulations of aripiprazole lauroxil for the treatment of schizophrenia; and Lybalvi, a combination of olanzapine and samidorphan approved for schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder in adults.

Founded in 1987, Alkermes is incorporated in Ireland and maintains its corporate headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts.