Alpine Immune Sciences (NASDAQ:ALPN) Receives Sector Perform Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Alpine Immune Sciences (NASDAQ:ALPN)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating restated by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $65.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $41.00. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target suggests a potential upside of 0.98% from the company’s previous close.

ALPN has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Alpine Immune Sciences in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Alpine Immune Sciences from $30.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on shares of Alpine Immune Sciences from $32.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price target on shares of Alpine Immune Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $44.00 price objective (up from $33.00) on shares of Alpine Immune Sciences in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.33.

Alpine Immune Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of ALPN stock opened at $64.37 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $36.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.96. The stock has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a PE ratio of -100.58 and a beta of 1.14. Alpine Immune Sciences has a 52-week low of $6.71 and a 52-week high of $64.57.

Alpine Immune Sciences (NASDAQ:ALPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 18th. The biotechnology company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by $0.47. The company had revenue of $30.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 million. Alpine Immune Sciences had a negative net margin of 54.66% and a negative return on equity of 15.54%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alpine Immune Sciences will post -1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alpine Immune Sciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in Alpine Immune Sciences in the 1st quarter valued at $798,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in Alpine Immune Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at $290,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Alpine Immune Sciences by 51.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,234,767 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $42,595,000 after buying an additional 759,888 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Alpine Immune Sciences by 176.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 109,882 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,094,000 after buying an additional 70,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American International Group Inc. increased its stake in Alpine Immune Sciences by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 16,185 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. 75.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Alpine Immune Sciences

Alpine Immune Sciences, Inc operates as a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. It focuses on the discovery and development of immunotherapies through protein engineering technologies for treating autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The company's product pipeline includes Povetacicept, a dual B cell cytokine antagonist, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of multiple autoimmune and inflammatory diseases; and Acazicolcept, a dual inhibitor of the CD28 and ICOS T cell costimulatory pathways that is in preclinical trial for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus.