Align Technology, Inc. $ALGN Holdings Lifted by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in shares of Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) by 1,959.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,128 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 68,625 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Align Technology were worth $9,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Align Technology by 37.2% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 247 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in Align Technology by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 2,570 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. First Bank & Trust boosted its position in Align Technology by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 1,599 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. boosted its position in Align Technology by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. now owns 4,235 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $714,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Isthmus Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Align Technology by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 88.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ALGN shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Align Technology in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Align Technology from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Leerink Partners reduced their target price on shares of Align Technology from $235.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Evercore downgraded shares of Align Technology from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $155.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Align Technology from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $218.00 to $162.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.08.

Align Technology Stock Performance

ALGN opened at $166.97 on Friday. Align Technology, Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.23 and a 52-week high of $200.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.77 billion, a PE ratio of 24.30, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.74. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $151.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $168.56.

Align Technology (NASDAQ:ALGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1 billion. Align Technology had a return on equity of 15.96% and a net margin of 11.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.61 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Align Technology, Inc. will post 9.21 earnings per share for the current year.

About Align Technology

Align Technology, Inc. develops, manufactures and markets digital orthodontic and restorative dentistry products. Its best-known offering is the Invisalign system, which uses a series of custom-made clear aligners to straighten teeth. The company also sells Vivera retainers and iTero intraoral scanners, which support digital dental imaging and treatment planning. Founded in 1997, Align helped popularize clear-aligner orthodontic treatment as an alternative to traditional braces. Its digital dentistry portfolio also includes exocad software, used by dental professionals and laboratories to design dental restorations.