Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) Short Interest Update

Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,170,000 shares, a decrease of 8.5% from the December 31st total of 5,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,250,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.1 days. Approximately 6.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alector

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alector

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALEC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Alector by 64.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,728,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,716,000 after buying an additional 1,072,298 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Alector by 18.5% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,017,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,742,000 after acquiring an additional 159,111 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Alector by 8.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,903,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,874,000 after acquiring an additional 148,357 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in 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 period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Alector in the 3rd quarter valued at $639,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.83% of the company’s stock.

Alector Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of Alector stock traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $1.66. 615,922 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 628,003. The business has a fifty day moving average of $1.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.07. The company has a market capitalization of $162.56 million, a P/E ratio of -0.98 and a beta of 0.57. Alector has a 1 year low of $1.60 and a 1 year high of $7.58.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.43) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by $0.10. Alector had a negative net margin of 257.54% and a negative return on equity of 108.77%. The company had revenue of $15.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.33 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Alector will post -1.88 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley cut Alector from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $10.00 to $3.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America lowered shares of Alector from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $9.00 to $1.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alector in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Mizuho lowered shares of Alector from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $9.00 to $2.50 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, HC Wainwright reduced their price target on shares of Alector from $35.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alector has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $3.75.

About Alector

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.