Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $26.59, but opened at $27.87. Alkermes shares last traded at $27.88, with a volume of 314,685 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on ALKS. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Alkermes from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $37.00 price objective (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Alkermes in a research report on Friday, October 25th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Alkermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Alkermes from $32.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.00.

Alkermes Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a current ratio of 3.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $27.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.01.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 10,471 shares of Alkermes stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.53, for a total transaction of $309,208.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 99,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,930,498.14. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alkermes

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALKS. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 421.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,326,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,393,000 after purchasing an additional 6,730,671 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Alkermes by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,640,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,939,000 after acquiring an additional 1,362,079 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Alkermes by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,884,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,507,000 after acquiring an additional 371,039 shares in the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Alkermes by 301.5% in the 2nd quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 2,699,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,050,000 after acquiring an additional 2,026,961 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alkermes by 87.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,203,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025,905 shares during the period. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.