Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) saw a large decline in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,500,000 shares, a decline of 8.8% from the November 30th total of 13,710,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,730,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.2 days. Currently, 7.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ALKS. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Alkermes from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Alkermes from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Alkermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $25.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.42.

Alkermes Stock Performance

ALKS traded down $0.28 on Monday, hitting $29.27. 212,145 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,800,370. The firm has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a PE ratio of 15.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.49. Alkermes has a twelve month low of $22.90 and a twelve month high of $32.88. The company has a current ratio of 3.45, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $28.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 61,151 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.07, for a total value of $1,961,112.57. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,525,762.32. This trade represents a 56.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 5,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.15, for a total transaction of $151,813.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,769,492.45. The trade was a 7.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 147,738 shares of company stock worth $4,572,904. Corporate insiders own 4.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alkermes

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Centiva Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alkermes in the 3rd quarter worth about $367,000. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 190.3% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 36,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,021,000 after acquiring an additional 23,921 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in Alkermes during the second quarter worth about $1,285,000. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alkermes by 766.7% during the 2nd quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC now owns 650,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,665,000 after purchasing an additional 575,000 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in shares of Alkermes in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,807,000. 95.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.