Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,170,000 shares, a decrease of 8.5% from the December 31st total of 5,650,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,250,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.1 days. Approximately 6.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alector

In related news, CFO Marc Grasso sold 16,489 shares of Alector stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.52, for a total transaction of $41,552.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 330,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $833,240.52. This trade represents a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Arnon Rosenthal sold 52,172 shares of Alector stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.52, for a total transaction of $131,473.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,507,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,317,826.48. This represents a 2.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,161 shares of company stock valued at $239,806 in the last three months. 9.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alector

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALEC. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Alector in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Alector in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alector in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Valence8 US LP purchased a new stake in Alector during the 3rd quarter valued at $69,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Alector by 65.3% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 18,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 7,395 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.83% of the company’s stock.

Alector Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of ALEC stock traded down $0.02 during trading on Monday, reaching $1.65. 159,016 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 657,708. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $1.99 and its 200 day moving average is $4.05. The company has a market capitalization of $161.09 million, a P/E ratio of -0.96 and a beta of 0.61. Alector has a 1 year low of $1.59 and a 1 year high of $7.58.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.43) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.33 million. Alector had a negative net margin of 257.54% and a negative return on equity of 108.77%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alector will post -1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on ALEC. Mizuho downgraded shares of Alector from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $9.00 to $2.50 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. BTIG Research decreased their target price on shares of Alector from $16.00 to $5.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Alector from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $9.00 to $1.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. HC Wainwright cut their price target on shares of Alector from $35.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alector in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $3.75.

About Alector

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.