Legal & General Group Plc Sells 117,451 Shares of Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in shares of Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) by 22.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 416,202 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 117,451 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.56% of Align Technology worth $86,782,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ALGN. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Align Technology by 2.8% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 33,864 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,612,000 after purchasing an additional 936 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Align Technology by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,882 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,311,000 after acquiring an additional 1,678 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Align Technology by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,750,805 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $443,810,000 after acquiring an additional 21,605 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Align Technology by 9.3% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,251 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $566,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Align Technology in the third quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ALGN shares. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Align Technology from $295.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Align Technology in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Align Technology from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Align Technology from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Align Technology from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Align Technology currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.64.

Align Technology Stock Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ ALGN opened at $164.14 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $177.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $207.35. Align Technology, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.74 and a twelve month high of $327.49. The company has a market capitalization of $12.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.26, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.73.

Align Technology (NASDAQ:ALGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The medical equipment provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by ($0.47). Align Technology had a net margin of 10.54% and a return on equity of 13.84%. On average, equities analysts expect that Align Technology, Inc. will post 7.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Align Technology Company Profile

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, and internationally. The company's Clear Aligner segment offers comprehensive products, including Invisalign comprehensive package that addresses the orthodontic needs of younger patients, such as mandibular advancement, compliance indicators, and compensation for tooth eruption; and Invisalign First Phase I and Invisalign First Comprehensive Phase 2 package for younger patients generally between the ages of six and ten years, which is a mixture of primary/baby and permanent teeth.