Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Alignment Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALHC)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $16.00 to $18.00. The stock had previously closed at $13.47, but opened at $15.06. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Alignment Healthcare shares last traded at $14.66, with a volume of 283,407 shares trading hands.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Alignment Healthcare in a report on Monday. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Alignment Healthcare in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Alignment Healthcare from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alignment Healthcare has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.25.

Insider Activity at Alignment Healthcare

In related news, COO Sebastian Burzacchi sold 8,550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.26, for a total transaction of $96,273.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 217,395 shares in the company, valued at $2,447,867.70. This represents a 3.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Hyong Kim sold 62,574 shares of Alignment Healthcare stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.20, for a total transaction of $763,402.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 470,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,740,051.20. This represents a 11.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 441,002 shares of company stock valued at $5,772,726 in the last three months. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alignment Healthcare

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Alignment Healthcare by 77.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,438,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,683,000 after buying an additional 3,257,630 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alignment Healthcare by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,649,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,302,000 after acquiring an additional 3,059,596 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alignment Healthcare by 588.3% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,388,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,122,000 after acquiring an additional 2,896,311 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Alignment Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth about $20,087,000. Finally, Broad Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Alignment Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at about $18,804,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.19% of the company’s stock.

Alignment Healthcare Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.89. The company has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of -20.38 and a beta of 1.50.

Alignment Healthcare Company Profile

Alignment Healthcare, Inc, a tech-enabled Medicare advantage company, operates consumer-centric health care platform for seniors in the United States. It provides customized health care designed to meet the needs of a diverse array of seniors through its Medicare advantage plans. The company was founded in 2013 and is based in Orange, California.