Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Buys 909 Shares of Align Technology, Inc. $ALGN

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) by 2.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,533 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Align Technology were worth $6,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ALGN. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Align Technology by 44.3% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,380 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,490,000 after purchasing an additional 2,881 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Align Technology by 69.7% during the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 37,336 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $5,931,000 after purchasing an additional 15,329 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Align Technology by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 12,094 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,725 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Align Technology by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 173,070 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $27,359,000 after purchasing an additional 3,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Align Technology by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 164,499 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $26,132,000 after purchasing an additional 5,996 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.43% of the company’s stock.

Align Technology Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ALGN opened at $133.14 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $133.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $162.39. Align Technology, Inc. has a one year low of $122.00 and a one year high of $246.19. The firm has a market cap of $9.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.70.

Align Technology (NASDAQ:ALGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by ($0.08). Align Technology had a net margin of 11.04% and a return on equity of 13.36%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.41 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Align Technology, Inc. will post 7.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Align Technology declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 5th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical equipment provider to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Joseph M. Hogan acquired 7,576 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $131.49 per share, with a total value of $996,168.24. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 184,945 shares in the company, valued at $24,318,418.05. This represents a 4.27% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Align Technology from $246.00 to $199.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho decreased their target price on Align Technology from $210.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 13th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Align Technology from $275.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Align Technology from $154.00 to $142.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Align Technology in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Align Technology presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $173.09.

About Align Technology

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.