Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Sells 82,738 Shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA reduced its stake in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS - Free Report) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 819,981 shares of the company's stock after selling 82,738 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.51% of Alkermes worth $23,583,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ALKS. Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Alkermes during the third quarter worth $367,000. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 36.8% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 49,922 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 13,432 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 23,541 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 74.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 149,493 shares of the company's stock worth $4,184,000 after purchasing an additional 63,939 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Alkermes by 108.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 423,931 shares of the company's stock worth $11,867,000 after buying an additional 220,893 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.21% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 144,419 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,875 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,056,298.75. This represents a 71.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 4.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ALKS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Alkermes from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Alkermes from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $40.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Alkermes from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $21.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $39.38.

Alkermes Trading Down 5.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ ALKS traded down $1.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $30.06. The company had a trading volume of 2,206,428 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,752,199. The stock has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.62. Alkermes plc has a 52 week low of $22.90 and a 52 week high of $36.45. The business's 50-day moving average is $33.60 and its 200-day moving average is $30.45.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

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.