Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) Short Interest Update

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,000,000 shares, a drop of 15.1% from the March 15th total of 12,950,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,750,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.3 days. Currently, 7.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Alkermes

In other news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 100,918 shares of Alkermes stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.05, for a total transaction of $3,234,421.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,419,494.50. The trade was a 69.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 4.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alkermes

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alkermes during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alkermes by 106.2% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 842 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Alkermes by 2,231.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in Alkermes in the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Alkermes by 54.4% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,479 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ALKS. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Alkermes from $40.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group raised Alkermes from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $21.00 to $38.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alkermes has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.50.

Alkermes Stock Performance

Alkermes stock traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $27.11. 1,826,743 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,753,621. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.49, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.39. Alkermes has a fifty-two week low of $22.90 and a fifty-two week high of $36.45. The firm's 50 day moving average is $32.60 and its 200-day moving average is $30.43.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts predict that Alkermes will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

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.