73,200 Shares in Alkermes plc $ALKS Purchased by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 73,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,588,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alkermes in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alkermes during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Alkermes by 57.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in Alkermes by 115.6% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 667 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Alkermes by 1,041.4% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 1,208 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

Alkermes Price Performance

Shares of ALKS opened at $55.08 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $9.18 billion, a PE ratio of 61.20 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $39.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.27. Alkermes plc has a twelve month low of $25.17 and a twelve month high of $55.28.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last posted its earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter. Alkermes had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The company had revenue of $384.55 million during the quarter. As a group, research analysts expect that Alkermes plc will post -0.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ALKS shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Alkermes from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Alkermes from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Zacks Research upgraded Alkermes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Alkermes from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.06.

Insider Activity at Alkermes

In related news, EVP David Joseph Gaffin sold 2,034 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.05, for a total value of $87,563.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 229,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,881,008.20. This represents a 0.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Christopher I. Wright sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.10, for a total transaction of $90,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,680 shares in the company, valued at $1,158,168. The trade was a 7.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,102 shares of company stock valued at $1,310,828. Insiders own 4.59% of the company’s stock.

Alkermes Profile

Alkermes plc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative medicines to address unmet needs in the central nervous system (CNS). The company applies its proprietary drug delivery technologies and therapeutic expertise to advance treatments for addiction, schizophrenia, bipolar I disorder and depression. Alkermes’ portfolio includes both commercial products and a pipeline of investigational therapies designed to improve patient outcomes and support long-term disease management.

Alkermes’ commercial franchise features several approved products.