Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Boosts Stock Position in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS - Free Report) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,988,796 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 50,470 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned approximately 1.23% of Alkermes worth $57,198,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. raised its stake in Alkermes by 58.6% in the 4th quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 129,662 shares of the company's stock worth $3,728,000 after acquiring an additional 47,901 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of Alkermes by 426.9% in the fourth quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 66,862 shares of the company's stock worth $1,923,000 after purchasing an additional 54,172 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Alkermes during the fourth quarter worth about $2,045,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 75,394 shares of the company's stock worth $2,168,000 after purchasing an additional 828 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Alkermes by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,450,707 shares of the company's stock valued at $99,242,000 after buying an additional 209,740 shares during the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Alkermes Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ALKS traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $32.53. 1,465,236 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,752,843. The company has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.99, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.39. Alkermes plc has a 1 year low of $22.90 and a 1 year high of $36.45.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 23.57% and a return on equity of 30.80%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALKS has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. HC Wainwright restated a "neutral" rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Alkermes from $40.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group upgraded Alkermes from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $39.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alkermes news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 144,419 shares of Alkermes stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 owns 57,875 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,056,298.75. The trade was a 71.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.