Alkermes Plc (ALKS): Insiders Aren’t Crazy About It

Alkermes Plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) investors should be aware of a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers of late.

In today’s marketplace, there are many indicators market participants can use to analyze publicly traded companies. A pair of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite hedge fund managers can beat the market by a significant margin (see just how much).

Equally as key, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are plenty of reasons for an upper level exec to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would buy. Several academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if you know what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, let’s take a look at the key action regarding Alkermes Plc (NASDAQ:ALKS).

How are hedge funds trading Alkermes Plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)?

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 15 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly.

Of the funds we track, Kevin Kotler’s Broadfin Capital had the most valuable position in Alkermes Plc (NASDAQ:ALKS), worth close to $31.9 million, comprising 7% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Xerion, managed by Daniel Arbess, which held a $9.2 million position; 0.5% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedgies that hold long positions include Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.

Due to the fact that Alkermes Plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) has experienced bearish sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, logic holds that there were a few hedgies who were dropping their positions entirely last quarter. At the top of the heap, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management said goodbye to the biggest investment of the 450+ funds we track, totaling about $8 million in stock.. Richard Schimel’s fund, Diamondback Capital, also said goodbye to its call options., about $2 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

Insider trading activity in Alkermes Plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Insider buying is most useful when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time period, Alkermes Plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 10 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Alkermes Plc (NASDAQ:ALKS). These stocks are Delcath Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCTH), Petmed Express Inc (NASDAQ:PETS), Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX), Elan Corporation, plc (ADR) (NYSE:ELN), and Hospira, Inc. (NYSE:HSP). All of these stocks are in the drug delivery industry and their market caps are closest to ALKS’s market cap.

With the returns exhibited by Insider Monkey’s time-tested strategies, retail investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Alkermes Plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) is an important part of this process.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds