Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,470,000 shares, an increase of 10.6% from the March 15th total of 5,850,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 690,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 9.4 days. Approximately 8.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective on shares of Alector in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.50.

Alector Trading Down 5.9 %

NASDAQ ALEC opened at $5.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.23. The company has a market capitalization of $508.43 million, a PE ratio of -3.43 and a beta of 0.79. Alector has a 12 month low of $3.66 and a 12 month high of $9.06.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.49) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.80) by $0.31. Alector had a negative return on equity of 77.15% and a negative net margin of 134.34%. The business had revenue of $15.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alector will post -1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alector

In other news, CEO Arnon Rosenthal sold 18,837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.92, for a total transaction of $130,352.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,000,380 shares in the company, valued at $13,842,629.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Arnon Rosenthal sold 18,837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.92, for a total transaction of $130,352.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,000,380 shares in the company, valued at $13,842,629.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Gary Romano sold 6,001 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.92, for a total value of $41,526.92. Following the sale, the insider now owns 196,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,358,485.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 30,554 shares of company stock worth $211,434. 14.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC grew its stake in Alector by 58.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,172,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,875,000 after acquiring an additional 4,481,420 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Alector by 3.2% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,825,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,032,000 after acquiring an additional 241,637 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in Alector by 12.3% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,931,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,517,000 after acquiring an additional 650,187 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Alector by 0.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,753,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,426,000 after acquiring an additional 44,498 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in Alector by 2.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,914,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,770,000 after acquiring an additional 78,243 shares during the period. 85.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alector Company Profile

Alector, Inc, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, develops therapies for the treatment of neurodegeneration diseases. Its products include AL001, an immune activity in the brain with genetic links to multiple neurodegenerative disorders, which is in Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis diseases; and AL101 that is in Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.