Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright assumed coverage on shares of Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Zacks reports. The brokerage issued a strong-buy rating on the stock.

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

Alector Stock Up 9.6%

ALEC traded up $0.20 on Friday, reaching $2.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,020,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,980,328. Alector has a 1 year low of $1.09 and a 1 year high of $2.76. The business’s 50 day moving average is $2.06 and its 200 day moving average is $2.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 5.26 and a quick ratio of 5.26. The stock has a market cap of $255.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.54 and a beta of 0.61.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by $1.34. Alector had a negative return on equity of 531.03% and a negative net margin of 850.13%. The company had revenue of $162.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alector will post -0.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Arnon Rosenthal sold 72,606 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.66, for a total value of $193,131.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,294,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,103,636. This trade represents a 3.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Neil Berkley sold 29,251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.66, for a total transaction of $77,807.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 350,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $932,726.34. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 111,303 shares of company stock worth $295,633 over the last three months. 8.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alector

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Merck & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Alector in the second quarter valued at approximately $7,126,896. Elmind Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Alector during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,809,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alector during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $15,774,000. Spruce Street Capital LP raised its position in shares of Alector by 87.9% during the 1st quarter. Spruce Street Capital LP now owns 2,101,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,517,000 after purchasing an additional 983,082 shares during the period. Finally, Nantahala Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alector during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,679,399. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.83% of the company’s stock.

Alector Company Profile

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.