HC Wainwright Reaffirms “Neutral” Rating for Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at HC Wainwright in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $35.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 48.24% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. TheStreet upgraded Alkermes from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Alkermes from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a report on Monday, April 1st. Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Alkermes in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Alkermes from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alkermes has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.38.

Alkermes Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ALKS traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $23.61. The stock had a trading volume of 838,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,886,387. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.79. The stock has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.42, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a current ratio of 2.86. Alkermes has a twelve month low of $22.01 and a twelve month high of $33.71.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.15). Alkermes had a return on equity of 16.10% and a net margin of 21.39%. The business had revenue of $350.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $360.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.10) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alkermes will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Alkermes announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 15th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Christian Todd Nichols sold 10,417 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.10, for a total transaction of $292,717.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 65,911 shares in the company, valued at $1,852,099.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 4.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alkermes

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALKS. Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new position in Alkermes during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Alkermes by 147.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alkermes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Alkermes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Alkermes in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

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.