Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 14,010,000 shares, a growth of 21.1% from the February 13th total of 11,570,000 shares. Currently, 8.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,690,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.3 days.

Alkermes Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Alkermes stock opened at $34.34 on Thursday. Alkermes has a twelve month low of $22.90 and a twelve month high of $36.45. The company’s 50 day moving average is $32.73 and its 200 day moving average is $29.97. The company has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.62.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.11. Alkermes had a return on equity of 30.80% and a net margin of 23.57%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alkermes will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alkermes

In other Alkermes news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 144,419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total value of $5,131,207.07. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,056,298.75. This represents a 71.39 % 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. Insiders own 4.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alkermes

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 100,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,877,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Alkermes by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 9,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in Alkermes by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 14,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Alkermes by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 75,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,168,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares during the period. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on ALKS shares. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Alkermes in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. UBS Group raised shares of Alkermes from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Alkermes in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alkermes presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.46.

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.