Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Shares Gap Up - Here's What Happened

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS - Get Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $26.59, but opened at $27.87. Alkermes shares last traded at $27.88, with a volume of 314,685 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on ALKS shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $32.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. HC Wainwright restated a "neutral" rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Alkermes from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $36.00 in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $35.00.

Alkermes Trading Up 6.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 3.03, a current ratio of 3.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.55, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.47. The firm's 50 day moving average is $27.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.99.

Institutional Trading of Alkermes

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Alkermes by 18.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 136,282 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,815,000 after acquiring an additional 21,221 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in Alkermes during the third quarter valued at $216,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in Alkermes by 92.4% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 95,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,673,000 after acquiring an additional 45,857 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 40.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 104,986 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,924,000 after purchasing an additional 29,998 shares during the period. Finally, James Investment Research Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alkermes during the third quarter valued at about $255,000. Institutional investors own 95.21% of the company's stock.

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.