Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) Short Interest Down 5.7% in August

Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,470,000 shares, a decrease of 5.7% from the August 15th total of 3,680,000 shares. Currently, 4.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 576,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.0 days.

Insider Transactions at Alector

In related news, insider Sara Kenkare-Mitra sold 13,926 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,423,569.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Sara Kenkare-Mitra sold 13,926 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,423,569.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Arnon Rosenthal sold 26,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.88, for a total transaction of $129,315.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,948,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,509,880.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,222 shares of company stock worth $286,013 in the last three months. Insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ALEC. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in Alector in the first quarter valued at approximately $760,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Alector by 12.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,912,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,574,000 after acquiring an additional 526,037 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Alector by 211.6% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 444,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,675,000 after acquiring an additional 301,936 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Alector by 6.5% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 131,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,000 after acquiring an additional 8,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alector by 24.1% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 19,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 3,827 shares during the last quarter. 85.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alector Stock Performance

Shares of ALEC opened at $5.64 on Thursday. Alector has a 12 month low of $3.66 and a 12 month high of $8.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $5.49 and its 200-day moving average is $5.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $543.61 million, a PE ratio of -4.09 and a beta of 0.68.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.40) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by $0.09. Alector had a negative net margin of 290.66% and a negative return on equity of 102.63%. The company had revenue of $15.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.04 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Alector will post -1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALEC has been the subject of several research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alector in a research report on Tuesday. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Alector in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.67.

About Alector

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.