Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Boosts Holdings in Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,442 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,076 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Alkermes were worth $900,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ALKS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Alkermes by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,667,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,870,000 after buying an additional 72,797 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Alkermes by 52.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,746,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,028,000 after buying an additional 4,055,926 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Alkermes by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,761,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,344,000 after acquiring an additional 106,749 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alkermes by 5.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,162,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,563,000 after purchasing an additional 114,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Alkermes by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,688,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,306,000 after purchasing an additional 13,545 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

Alkermes Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ALKS opened at $24.68 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $27.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.85. Alkermes plc has a 52-week low of $22.01 and a 52-week high of $33.71. The company has a quick ratio of 2.50, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.55.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.29). The firm had revenue of $377.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.78 million. Alkermes had a return on equity of 16.10% and a net margin of 21.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.02) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Alkermes plc will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alkermes announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 15th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 10,417 shares of Alkermes stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.10, for a total value of $292,717.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 65,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,852,099.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALKS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on Alkermes from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com lowered Alkermes from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.38.

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.