BTIG Research Upgrades Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) to Buy

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at BTIG Research from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $6.00 price target on the stock. BTIG Research’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 173.97% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Alector from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, March 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Alector in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Alector in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alector presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.17.

Alector Trading Up 9.5%

ALEC opened at $2.19 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Alector has a 1-year low of $0.87 and a 1-year high of $3.40. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $1.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.03. The company has a market cap of $241.69 million, a P/E ratio of -1.58 and a beta of 0.57.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.34) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 million. Alector had a negative net margin of 679.16% and a negative return on equity of 224.96%. Analysts predict that Alector will post -1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Alector

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Alector by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 343,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 5,927 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alector by 5.3% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 151,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 7,600 shares during the period. Sio Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alector by 1.0% in the second quarter. Sio Capital Management LLC now owns 845,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,184,000 after acquiring an additional 8,372 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Alector by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 283,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 9,270 shares during the period. Finally, Lexington Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Alector during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 85.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Alector

Alector is a clinical-stage biotechnology company headquartered in South San Francisco, California. Founded in 2013, the company is focused on discovering and developing immuno-neurology therapies that target the innate immune system to treat a range of neurodegenerative disorders. Alector’s approach aims to harness the body’s natural defense mechanisms to clear pathological proteins and restore neuronal function in conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia.

The company’s pipeline includes multiple product candidates in both preclinical and clinical stages, with lead programs AL001 and AL002 advancing in frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease studies.