State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Reduces Position in Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its holdings in shares of Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) by 38.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,764 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 15,923 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Align Technology were worth $6,220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ground Swell Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Align Technology during the 2nd quarter valued at about $276,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Align Technology during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,716,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Align Technology by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 8,876 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Provident Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Align Technology by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Provident Investment Management Inc. now owns 155,524 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,548,000 after acquiring an additional 3,517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Andra AP fonden grew its stake in Align Technology by 137.5% during the 2nd quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 17,100 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,128,000 after acquiring an additional 9,900 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ALGN shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Align Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 1st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Align Technology in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Align Technology from $370.00 to $325.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. OTR Global reissued a “mixed” rating on shares of Align Technology in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Align Technology from $328.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $306.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Align Technology news, Director C Raymond Larkin, Jr. bought 6,500 shares of Align Technology stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $235.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,529,645.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 28,247 shares in the company, valued at $6,647,366.51. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Align Technology Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ALGN opened at $243.73 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.15, a PEG ratio of 5.13 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $232.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $266.08. Align Technology, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $176.34 and a fifty-two week high of $335.73.

Align Technology (NASDAQ:ALGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Align Technology had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 14.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.73 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Align Technology, Inc. will post 7.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Align Technology Profile

Align Technology, Inc designs, manufactures, and markets Invisalign clear aligners, and iTero intraoral scanners and services for orthodontists and general practitioner dentists in the United States, Switzerland, and internationally. The company's Clear Aligner segment offers comprehensive products, including Invisalign comprehensive package that addresses the orthodontic needs of younger patients, such as mandibular advancement, compliance indicators, and compensation for tooth eruption; and Invisalign First Phase I and Invisalign First Comprehensive Phase 2 package for younger patients generally between the ages of six and ten years, which is a mixture of primary/baby and permanent teeth.