Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Purchases Shares of 67,200 Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 67,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,933,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Alkermes in the 3rd quarter worth $367,000. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 190.3% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 36,490 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,021,000 after buying an additional 23,921 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 254.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 32,791 shares of the company's stock valued at $944,000 after buying an additional 23,541 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Alkermes by 74.7% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 149,493 shares of the company's stock worth $4,184,000 after acquiring an additional 63,939 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 108.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 423,931 shares of the company's stock worth $11,867,000 after acquiring an additional 220,893 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.21% of the company's stock.

Alkermes Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of ALKS stock traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $35.33. 1,062,582 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,711,444. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.02. Alkermes plc has a 52-week low of $22.90 and a 52-week high of $36.45.

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

Insider Transactions at Alkermes

In other news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 144,419 shares of the business'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 value 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Cato T. Laurencin sold 2,691 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.85, for a total transaction of $85,708.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $732,964.05. This trade represents a 10.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 323,608 shares of company stock worth $10,854,725. 4.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on ALKS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Alkermes from $32.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Alkermes from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $25.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Alkermes in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Alkermes from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alkermes currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $38.36.

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.