Guggenheim Capital LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Guggenheim Capital LLC lessened its stake in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS - Free Report) by 37.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,359 shares of the company's stock after selling 33,635 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC's holdings in Alkermes were worth $1,650,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alkermes in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alkermes by 106.2% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Alkermes by 2,231.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Alkermes by 558.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the company's stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 2,502 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alkermes during the fourth quarter valued at about $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. HC Wainwright restated a "neutral" rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on Alkermes in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group upgraded Alkermes from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $21.00 to $38.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Alkermes from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $38.50.

Alkermes Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ALKS traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $27.72. 389,032 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,751,371. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $32.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.38. The company has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.39. Alkermes plc has a twelve month low of $22.90 and a twelve month high of $36.45.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 144,419 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,056,298.75. This trade represents a 71.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 4.89% of the company's stock.

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.