Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) Stock Price Breaks Above 50 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC)’s stock price passed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $2.07 and traded as high as $2.30. Alector shares last traded at $2.28, with a volume of 1,477,641 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALEC has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $1.50 target price on shares of Alector in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of Alector from $5.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Alector from $2.00 to $3.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Alector from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.62.

Alector Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $254.58 million, a P/E ratio of -2.07 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.03. The company has a current ratio of 5.26, a quick ratio of 5.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 million. Alector had a negative net margin of 850.13% and a negative return on equity of 531.03%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alector, Inc. will post -0.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Alector

In other news, CEO Arnon Rosenthal sold 72,606 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.66, for a total value of $193,131.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,294,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,103,636. This represents a 3.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Neil Berkley sold 29,251 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.66, for a total value of $77,807.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 350,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $932,726.34. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 111,303 shares of company stock worth $295,633. Corporate insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alector

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Alector during the second quarter worth $15,774,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alector in the 2nd quarter valued at $8,679,399. Merck & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alector in the 2nd quarter valued at $7,126,896. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alector in the 2nd quarter worth about $5,796,000. Finally, Spruce Street Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Alector in the 2nd quarter worth about $4,223,147. 85.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Alector

Alector, Inc (NASDAQ: ALEC) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. The company’s research platform, known as immuno-neurology, is designed to use the body’s immune system to protect or restore the brain’s ability to maintain healthy neural connections.

Alector’s investigational pipeline has included antibody-based treatments for conditions such as frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Its programs have targeted biological pathways associated with neurodegeneration, including progranulin and TREM2.