HC Wainwright Initiates Coverage on Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC)

Investment analysts at HC Wainwright started coverage on shares of Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) in a research report issued on Friday, Zacks reports. The firm set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Alector from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Alector from $2.00 to $3.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Alector from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $1.50 price objective on shares of Alector in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alector currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.62.

Alector Trading Up 9.6%

NASDAQ ALEC opened at $2.29 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $2.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $255.70 million, a PE ratio of 6.54 and a beta of 0.61. 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 has a 12 month low of $1.09 and a 12 month high of $2.76.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by $1.34. The firm had revenue of $162.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 million. Alector had a negative net margin of 850.13% and a negative return on equity of 531.03%. On average, analysts expect that Alector will post -0.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ALEC. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Alector by 8.2% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 106,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,000 after acquiring an additional 8,118 shares during the period. Nantahala Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alector during the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,679,399. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Alector in the second quarter valued at about $241,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Alector during the second quarter worth $287,000. Finally, Elmind Capital LP acquired a new stake in Alector during the second quarter worth approximately $1,809,000. 85.83% of the stock is 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.