Bellevue Group AG Reduces Stock Holdings in Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN)

Bellevue Group AG reduced its stake in shares of Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) by 2.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 154,909 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,498 shares during the period. Bellevue Group AG’s holdings in Align Technology were worth $50,798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Align Technology by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 437,219 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $143,373,000 after buying an additional 43,144 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA lifted its position in shares of Align Technology by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. BOKF NA now owns 13,437 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,295,000 after buying an additional 2,131 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Align Technology by 190.7% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 54,126 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $17,748,000 after purchasing an additional 35,507 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Align Technology during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Align Technology by 67.7% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 101,229 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,195,000 after purchasing an additional 40,852 shares during the period. 88.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ALGN. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Align Technology from $328.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Align Technology from $370.00 to $325.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. OTR Global reissued a “mixed” rating on shares of Align Technology in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Align Technology from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Align Technology from $370.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $322.78.

Align Technology Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ ALGN traded down $5.60 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $220.45. 1,185,768 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 776,117. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.66. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $249.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $280.62. Align Technology, Inc. has a 12 month low of $176.34 and a 12 month high of $413.20.

Align Technology (NASDAQ:ALGN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Align Technology had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 11.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.73 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Align Technology, Inc. will post 7.84 EPS for the current year.

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.