Carmignac Gestion Buys 91,661 Shares of Align Technology, Inc. $ALGN

Carmignac Gestion lifted its stake in Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) by 40.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 316,832 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 91,661 shares during the quarter. Carmignac Gestion’s holdings in Align Technology were worth $53,496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Align Technology by 16,665.8% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 13,294,119 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,242,186,000 after purchasing an additional 13,214,826 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Align Technology by 52.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,643,221 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $725,039,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,848 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Align Technology in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $745,370,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Align Technology by 37.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,497,535 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $187,521,000 after buying an additional 407,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Align Technology by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,490,503 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $232,742,000 after buying an additional 173,641 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.43% of the company’s stock.

Align Technology Price Performance

Align Technology stock traded down $5.14 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $153.49. 807,192 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,080,500. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.44. Align Technology, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.00 and a fifty-two week high of $200.43. The stock has a market cap of $10.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.65.

Align Technology (NASDAQ:ALGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. Align Technology had a net margin of 9.99% and a return on equity of 15.86%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Align Technology, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on ALGN shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Align Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $189.00 price objective on shares of Align Technology in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Align Technology from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Align Technology in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Align Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.36.

About Align Technology

Align Technology, Inc (NASDAQ: ALGN) pioneered the use of digital technology in orthodontics through the development of the Invisalign system, a series of clear, removable aligners that provide an alternative to traditional metal braces. Since its founding in 1997 by Zia Chishti and Kelsey Wirth, the Tempe, Arizona–based company has expanded its focus to include intraoral scanners, CAD/CAM software for dental laboratories and comprehensive digital dentistry solutions.

The company’s signature Invisalign system leverages 3D imaging and computer-aided design (CAD) to create customized aligners that gradually reposition teeth, improving patient comfort and treatment predictability.