Wells Fargo & Company MN Buys 24,979 Shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS - Free Report) by 36.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 94,020 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 24,979 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned approximately 0.06% of Alkermes worth $2,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ALKS. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in Alkermes by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 2,302,905 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,232,000 after acquiring an additional 419,969 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Alkermes by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,988,796 shares of the company's stock worth $57,198,000 after acquiring an additional 50,470 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alkermes during the fourth quarter worth approximately $56,684,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alkermes by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 899,764 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,877,000 after purchasing an additional 21,821 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.21% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 144,419 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 71.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.40% of the company's stock.

Alkermes Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ALKS traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $27.91. The stock had a trading volume of 1,517,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,758,301. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.43. Alkermes plc has a twelve month low of $22.90 and a twelve month high of $36.45. The firm has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.39.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.11. Alkermes had a net margin of 23.57% and a return on equity of 30.80%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Alkermes from $38.00 to $33.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded Alkermes from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Alkermes in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Alkermes has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $38.08.

Alkermes 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.