Liontrust Investment Partners LLP Invests $316,000 in Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN)

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 945 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $316,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ALGN. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Align Technology by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,946,834 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,592,819,000 after acquiring an additional 75,255 shares during the period. Sands Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Align Technology by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 2,660,870 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $561,177,000 after acquiring an additional 345,647 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Align Technology by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,549,279 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $326,167,000 after acquiring an additional 37,047 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Align Technology by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,145,543 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $241,595,000 after acquiring an additional 213,782 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Align Technology by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,064,281 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $224,457,000 after acquiring an additional 131,006 shares during the period. 87.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Align Technology Trading Down 2.5 %

ALGN stock opened at $332.26 on Monday. Align Technology, Inc. has a 1 year low of $172.05 and a 1 year high of $413.20. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $355.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $331.14. The firm has a market cap of $25.43 billion, a PE ratio of 81.64, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.63.

Align Technology (NASDAQ:ALGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The medical equipment provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.09. Align Technology had a net margin of 8.40% and a return on equity of 11.42%. The business had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $985.87 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Align Technology, Inc. will post 7.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Align Technology from $367.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. OTR Global lowered shares of Align Technology to a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, June 16th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Align Technology from $370.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Align Technology in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Align Technology in a research report on Wednesday, August 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $450.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $380.33.

About Align Technology

Align Technology, Inc designs, manufactures, and markets Invisalign clear aligners, and iTero intraoral scanners and services for orthodontists and general practitioner dentists in the United States, Switzerland, China, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Clear Aligner; and Imaging Systems and CAD/CAM Services (Systems and Services).