3,545,719 Shares in Alector, Inc. $ALEC Acquired by Merck & Co. Inc.

Merck & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,545,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,126,896,000. Alector accounts for about 1.4% of Merck & Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Alector during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Prudential Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alector in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hershey Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Alector by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Hershey Trust Co. now owns 20,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 10,286 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alector in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Alector during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on ALEC shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $2.00 target price on shares of Alector in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Alector from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Alector from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alector presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $3.62.

Insider Activity at Alector

In related news, CFO Neil Lindsay Berkley sold 19,360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.97, for a total transaction of $38,139.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 379,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $748,403. This represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Arnon Rosenthal sold 87,216 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.97, for a total transaction of $171,815.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,367,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,663,395.82. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 115,760 shares of company stock worth $227,734. 8.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alector Stock Performance

NASDAQ ALEC opened at $2.05 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 5.26 and a quick ratio of 5.26. The company has a market cap of $228.90 million, a P/E ratio of -1.86 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $1.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.01. Alector, Inc. has a 1-year low of $1.09 and a 1-year high of $3.40.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by $0.02. Alector had a negative net margin of 850.13% and a negative return on equity of 531.03%. The business had revenue of $3.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alector, Inc. will post -0.87 EPS for the current year.

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.