Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $3.25.

Several equities analysts have commented on ALEC shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Alector in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. William Blair lowered Alector from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Alector from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Alector to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, HC Wainwright lowered their price target on Alector from $10.00 to $5.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd.

Alector Stock Performance

Shares of ALEC stock opened at $1.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 3.76 and a quick ratio of 3.76. Alector has a fifty-two week low of $0.87 and a fifty-two week high of $3.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $1.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.98. The firm has a market cap of $208.48 million, a P/E ratio of -1.79 and a beta of 0.61.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.34) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.08. Alector had a negative net margin of 156.03% and a negative return on equity of 123.02%. The firm had revenue of $3.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.49 million. Analysts predict that Alector will post -1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Arnon Rosenthal sold 104,347 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.12, for a total value of $116,868.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,420,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,710,444.80. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Neil Lindsay Berkley sold 37,261 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.12, for a total transaction of $41,732.32. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 374,309 shares in the company, valued at $419,226.08. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 196,104 shares of company stock valued at $220,064. 9.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alector

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ALEC. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in Alector by 49.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 52,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 17,170 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Alector by 26.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 38,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 8,000 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Alector by 483.3% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 651,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $912,000 after acquiring an additional 540,000 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can bought a new stake in Alector in the second quarter valued at about $73,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in Alector by 50.7% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,170,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,033,000 after purchasing an additional 729,727 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.83% of the company’s stock.

About Alector

Alector is a clinical-stage biotechnology company headquartered in South San Francisco, California. Founded in 2013, the company is focused on discovering and developing immuno-neurology therapies that target the innate immune system to treat a range of neurodegenerative disorders. Alector’s approach aims to harness the body’s natural defense mechanisms to clear pathological proteins and restore neuronal function in conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia.

The company’s pipeline includes multiple product candidates in both preclinical and clinical stages, with lead programs AL001 and AL002 advancing in frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease studies.