Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) Short Interest Down 7.7% in September

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 17,180,000 shares, a drop of 7.7% from the September 15th total of 18,620,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,790,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.6 days.

Alkermes Stock Performance

Shares of ALKS stock opened at $28.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.99 and a quick ratio of 2.61. The stock has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a PE ratio of 11.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $27.68 and a 200-day moving average of $25.81. Alkermes has a one year low of $22.01 and a one year high of $32.88.

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70. The company had revenue of $399.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $393.30 million. Alkermes had a return on equity of 23.20% and a net margin of 19.15%. Alkermes’s revenue was down 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alkermes will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ALKS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Alkermes from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of Alkermes in a report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Alkermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Alkermes from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alkermes has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.70.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alkermes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ALKS. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position 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 period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Alkermes by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,955,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $581,304,000 after purchasing an additional 2,288,185 shares during the period. Armistice Capital LLC grew 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 valued at $65,050,000 after purchasing an additional 2,026,961 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Alkermes by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,640,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,939,000 after purchasing an additional 1,362,079 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position 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 and hedge funds.

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.