BTIG Research Lowers Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) Price Target to $5.00

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) had its price objective lowered by stock analysts at BTIG Research from $16.00 to $5.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. BTIG Research’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 92.31% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on ALEC. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alector in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Alector from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $10.00 to $3.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Alector in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.00.

Alector Stock Down 34.3 %

NASDAQ ALEC traded down $1.36 on Tuesday, reaching $2.60. 5,507,854 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 657,491. Alector has a 12 month low of $2.37 and a 12 month high of $8.90. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $4.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.06. The company has a market cap of $254.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.53 and a beta of 0.66.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.43) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by $0.10. Alector had a negative return on equity of 108.77% and a negative net margin of 257.54%. The firm had revenue of $15.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.33 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alector will post -1.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alector news, CFO Marc Grasso sold 7,297 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.88, for a total transaction of $35,609.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 130,740 shares in the company, valued at $638,011.20. This trade represents a 5.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sara Kenkare-Mitra sold 13,926 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.88, for a total value of $67,958.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 291,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,423,569.20. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 47,722 shares of company stock worth $232,883. 9.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Alector by 132.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 176,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $824,000 after acquiring an additional 100,731 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alector by 8.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,903,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,874,000 after acquiring an additional 148,357 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Alector by 24.2% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 154,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $722,000 after purchasing an additional 30,180 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Alector in the third quarter worth about $639,000. Finally, Sphera Funds Management LTD. lifted its position in shares of Alector by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sphera Funds Management LTD. now owns 620,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,889,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. 85.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alector Company Profile

Alector, Inc, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, develops therapies for the treatment of neurodegeneration diseases. Its products include AL001, an immune activity in the brain with genetic links to multiple neurodegenerative disorders, which is in Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis diseases; and AL101 that is in Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.