Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) Receives “Buy” Rating from HC Wainwright

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities researchers at HC Wainwright in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $7.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright’s target price points to a potential upside of 306.98% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on ALEC. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Alector from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $10.00 to $3.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alector in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. BTIG Research cut their target price on shares of Alector from $16.00 to $5.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Alector from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $4.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Bank of America cut Alector from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $9.00 to $1.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $3.75.

Alector Price Performance

Alector stock opened at $1.72 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1.78 and a 200-day moving average of $3.56. 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 one year low of $1.55 and a one year high of $7.58.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.61) by $0.59. The firm had revenue of $54.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.41 million. Alector had a negative return on equity of 108.77% and a negative net margin of 257.54%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alector will post -1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alector

In other Alector news, CEO Arnon Rosenthal sold 52,172 shares of the business’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 $131,473.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,507,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,317,826.48. The trade was a 2.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sara Kenkare-Mitra sold 26,500 shares of the firm’s 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 $66,780.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 565,215 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders have sold a total of 95,161 shares of company stock valued at $239,806 in the last ninety days. 9.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alector

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ALEC. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Alector by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 160,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 17,509 shares in the last quarter. Velan Capital Investment Management LP bought a new position in Alector in the 4th quarter valued at about $104,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alector in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Alector by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 429,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 35,000 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in shares of Alector by 55.4% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 407,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $771,000 after acquiring an additional 145,467 shares in the last quarter. 85.83% of the stock is currently owned by 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.