Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Shares Gap Down - Here's Why

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $27.85, but opened at $27.01. Alkermes shares last traded at $27.43, with a volume of 1,074,835 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on ALKS. HC Wainwright reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Alkermes from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Alkermes from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Alkermes from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alkermes currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $36.70.

Alkermes Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.61, a current ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.87. The stock has a market cap of $4.54 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.46.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70. Alkermes had a return on equity of 23.20% and a net margin of 19.15%. The business had revenue of $399.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $393.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Alkermes plc will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alkermes

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALKS. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Alkermes by 421.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,326,256 shares of the company's stock valued at $225,393,000 after acquiring an additional 6,730,671 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Alkermes by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,640,642 shares of the company's stock valued at $135,939,000 after purchasing an additional 1,362,079 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Alkermes by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,884,012 shares of the company's stock worth $69,507,000 after buying an additional 371,039 shares during the period. Armistice Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Alkermes by 301.5% in the 2nd quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 2,699,179 shares of the company's stock worth $65,050,000 after buying an additional 2,026,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Alkermes by 87.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,203,456 shares of the company's stock worth $53,103,000 after buying an additional 1,025,905 shares during the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.