HC Wainwright Reaffirms Buy Rating for Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC)

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by analysts at HC Wainwright in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $7.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright’s target price suggests a potential upside of 306.98% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Mizuho downgraded Alector from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $9.00 to $2.50 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America cut Alector from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $9.00 to $1.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alector in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Alector from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $4.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, BTIG Research reduced their price objective on shares of Alector from $16.00 to $5.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alector has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $3.75.

Alector Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ ALEC opened at $1.72 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $168.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.01 and a beta of 0.61. Alector has a 12 month low of $1.55 and a 12 month high of $7.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.56.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.61) by $0.59. Alector had a negative net margin of 257.54% and a negative return on equity of 108.77%. The business had revenue of $54.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.41 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alector will post -1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Alector

In other Alector news, CEO Arnon Rosenthal sold 52,172 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.52, for a total transaction of $131,473.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,507,074 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,317,826.48. This represents a 2.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Sara Kenkare-Mitra sold 26,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.52, for a total value of $66,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 565,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,424,341.80. This represents a 4.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,161 shares of company stock worth $239,806. Company insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alector

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alector by 1.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,595,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,013,000 after purchasing an additional 137,794 shares during the last quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in Alector during the fourth quarter worth $18,324,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Alector by 64.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,728,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,716,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072,298 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Alector by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,914,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,619,000 after purchasing an additional 10,308 shares during the period. Finally, Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C increased its position in shares of Alector by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 1,066,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,017,000 after purchasing an additional 11,770 shares during the last quarter. 85.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alector Company Profile

Alector, Inc, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, develops therapies for the treatment of neurodegeneration diseases. Its products include AL001, an immune activity in the brain with genetic links to multiple neurodegenerative disorders, which is in Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis diseases; and AL101 that is in Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.