Short Interest in Alignment Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALHC) Declines By 15.8%

Alignment Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALHC) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,350,000 shares, a decrease of 15.8% from the November 30th total of 11,110,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,850,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.1 days. Currently, 10.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Hakan Kardes sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.98, for a total value of $58,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 375,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,879,753.12. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert Thomas Freeman sold 21,375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.66, for a total transaction of $227,857.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 243,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,590,955.64. The trade was a 8.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 653,546 shares of company stock worth $7,875,008. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alignment Healthcare

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alignment Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at $95,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alignment Healthcare by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 2,077 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Alignment Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at about $131,000. Creative Planning increased its position in Alignment Healthcare by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 12,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 2,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Alignment Healthcare by 110.0% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 36,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 19,129 shares in the last quarter. 86.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on ALHC. Barclays increased their target price on Alignment Healthcare from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Alignment Healthcare in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Alignment Healthcare from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Stephens raised shares of Alignment Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $13.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alignment Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $11.44.

Alignment Healthcare Stock Performance

ALHC traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $11.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 306,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,180,115. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.60. The company’s 50-day moving average is $11.87 and its 200-day moving average is $10.31. Alignment Healthcare has a 52 week low of $4.46 and a 52 week high of $14.25. The firm has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a PE ratio of -14.34 and a beta of 1.42.

Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.14). Alignment Healthcare had a negative net margin of 5.84% and a negative return on equity of 108.69%. The company had revenue of $692.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $662.11 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.19) earnings per share. Alignment Healthcare’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alignment Healthcare will post -0.69 EPS for the current year.

About Alignment Healthcare

Alignment Healthcare, Inc, a tech-enabled Medicare advantage company, operates consumer-centric health care platform for seniors in the United States. It provides customized health care designed to meet the needs of a diverse array of seniors through its Medicare advantage plans. The company was founded in 2013 and is based in Orange, California.