Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) Given New $8.00 Price Target at HC Wainwright

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) had its price target boosted by HC Wainwright from $5.00 to $8.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. HC Wainwright’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 328.95% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on ALEC. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $1.50 price target on shares of Alector in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Alector from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Alector from $2.00 to $3.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.00.

Alector Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ ALEC traded down $0.01 on Wednesday, reaching $1.86. The stock had a trading volume of 1,042,787 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,502,344. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $2.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.03. Alector has a 1 year low of $1.09 and a 1 year high of $3.40. The company has a market capitalization of $208.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.70 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 5.26, a quick ratio of 5.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 million. Alector had a negative net margin of 850.13% and a negative return on equity of 531.03%. On average, analysts forecast that Alector will post -0.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Arnon Rosenthal sold 72,606 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.66, for a total value of $193,131.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,294,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,103,636. This represents a 3.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Neil Berkley sold 29,251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.66, for a total value of $77,807.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 350,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $932,726.34. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 111,303 shares of company stock valued at $295,633. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alector

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in Alector by 83.6% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 11,793 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Alector in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Alector by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 252,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $542,000 after buying an additional 34,435 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Alector by 218.9% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 53,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 36,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Alector in the second quarter valued at about $98,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.83% of the company’s stock.

Alector Company Profile

Alector, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. The company’s approach, known as immuno-neurology, seeks to use the immune system to protect brain health and address biological mechanisms involved in conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia and Parkinson’s disease.

Alector’s pipeline includes latozinemab, an antibody designed to increase levels of progranulin, a protein associated with the health and function of brain cells.