Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) Holdings Reduced by Rice Hall James & Associates LLC

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS - Free Report) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 429,927 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,730 shares during the period. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC owned 0.27% of Alkermes worth $12,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alkermes during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Alkermes by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 9,155 shares of the company's stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alkermes by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 34,708 shares of the company's stock worth $1,108,000 after buying an additional 1,917 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Alkermes by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 899,764 shares of the company's stock worth $25,877,000 after buying an additional 21,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its holdings in Alkermes by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 76,389 shares of the company's stock worth $2,197,000 after buying an additional 6,814 shares in the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Cato T. Laurencin sold 2,691 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.85, for a total transaction of $85,708.35. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $732,964.05. This represents a 10.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 144,419 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,875 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,056,298.75. This trade represents a 71.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 323,608 shares of company stock worth $10,854,725 over the last quarter. 4.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alkermes Stock Performance

Shares of Alkermes stock traded down $0.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $35.33. The company had a trading volume of 1,062,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,711,444. The company has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.49. Alkermes plc has a fifty-two week low of $22.90 and a fifty-two week high of $36.45. The firm's fifty day moving average is $30.79 and its 200-day moving average is $29.02.

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 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alkermes plc will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on ALKS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Alkermes in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Alkermes from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $37.00 price objective (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Alkermes in a report on Friday, October 25th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $38.36.

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.