Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) Shares Bought by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) by 20.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,241 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,372 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Align Technology were worth $2,702,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Align Technology during the 4th quarter worth approximately $223,610,000. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Align Technology by 41.4% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,509,080 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $413,488,000 after purchasing an additional 441,754 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Align Technology by 102.0% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 414,772 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $113,648,000 after purchasing an additional 209,419 shares during the period. Avidity Partners Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Align Technology during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,689,000. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Align Technology by 5,179.5% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 114,671 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $31,576,000 after purchasing an additional 112,499 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.43% of the company’s stock.

Align Technology Stock Performance

Shares of ALGN stock opened at $243.60 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $259.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $283.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.13, a PEG ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.66. Align Technology, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $176.34 and a fifty-two week high of $413.20.

Align Technology (NASDAQ:ALGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The medical equipment provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.08. Align Technology had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 11.80%. The company had revenue of $997.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $971.97 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Align Technology, Inc. will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALGN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Align Technology from $370.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Align Technology from $333.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. OTR Global reiterated a “mixed” rating on shares of Align Technology in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Align Technology from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Align Technology from $344.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $346.50.

About Align Technology

Align Technology, Inc designs, manufactures, and markets Invisalign clear aligners, and iTero intraoral scanners and services for orthodontists and general practitioner dentists in the United States, Switzerland, and internationally. The company's Clear Aligner segment offers comprehensive products, including Invisalign comprehensive package that addresses the orthodontic needs of younger patients, such as mandibular advancement, compliance indicators, and compensation for tooth eruption; and Invisalign First Phase I and Invisalign First Comprehensive Phase 2 package for younger patients generally between the ages of six and ten years, which is a mixture of primary/baby and permanent teeth.