Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) Stake Raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS - Free Report) by 147.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 889,472 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 529,962 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.55% of Alkermes worth $25,581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Alkermes in the third quarter valued at about $16,126,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Alkermes in the 4th quarter valued at about $12,293,000. C WorldWide Group Holding A S purchased a new stake in shares of Alkermes in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,190,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 108.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 423,931 shares of the company's stock worth $11,867,000 after buying an additional 220,893 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Alkermes by 6.5% during the 4th 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 period. 95.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alkermes Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ALKS traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $27.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,741,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,756,591. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $33.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.47. Alkermes plc has a 1 year low of $22.90 and a 1 year high of $36.45. The firm has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alkermes

In other news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 100,918 shares of Alkermes stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,419,494.50. The trade was a 69.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 4.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALKS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. HC Wainwright reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Alkermes from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Alkermes from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $38.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $38.50.

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.