Blue Trust Inc. Grows Stake in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 2,394.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,821 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,748 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $51,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ALKS. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in Alkermes by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 30,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $890,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Alkermes by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 93,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,690,000 after acquiring an additional 2,373 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in Alkermes by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 111,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,219,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in Alkermes by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 42,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,223,000 after acquiring an additional 4,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Alkermes by 2.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 120,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,486,000 after purchasing an additional 2,903 shares during the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alkermes news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 100,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.05, for a total value of $3,234,421.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,419,494.50. This represents a 69.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Cato T. Laurencin sold 2,691 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $732,964.05. This trade represents a 10.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 179,189 shares of company stock valued at $5,723,518 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.89% of the company’s stock.

Alkermes Price Performance

ALKS stock opened at $31.57 on Monday. Alkermes plc has a 1 year low of $22.90 and a 1 year high of $32.88. The company has a market cap of $5.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.19, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $30.08 and a 200 day moving average of $28.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 3.45 and a quick ratio of 3.03.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on ALKS shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Alkermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on shares of Alkermes from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Alkermes from $32.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Alkermes from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alkermes has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.00.

Alkermes Company 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.