Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,390,000 shares, a growth of 34.1% from the November 15th total of 4,020,000 shares. Approximately 7.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.3 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alector news, CEO Arnon Rosenthal sold 52,172 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.52, for a total transaction of $131,473.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,507,074 shares in the company, valued at $6,317,826.48. This represents a 2.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sara Kenkare-Mitra sold 26,500 shares of Alector stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.52, for a total value of $66,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 565,215 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,341.80. This represents a 4.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 95,161 shares of company stock valued at $239,806. Insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alector

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of Alector by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 68,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 2,709 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Alector by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 129,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Alector by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 112,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 3,790 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alector by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 63,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 4,430 shares during the period. Finally, Caxton Associates LP grew its position in shares of Alector by 41.3% during the 2nd quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 20,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 5,933 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ALEC shares. Bank of America lowered shares of Alector from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $9.00 to $1.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. HC Wainwright lowered their price target on Alector from $35.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 29th. Morgan Stanley cut Alector from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $3.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. BTIG Research lowered their target price on Alector from $16.00 to $5.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alector in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.20.

Alector Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ALEC opened at $1.97 on Friday. Alector has a 1 year low of $1.92 and a 1 year high of $8.90. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.77. The firm has a market cap of $192.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.16 and a beta of 0.51.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.43) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by $0.10. The company had revenue of $15.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.33 million. Alector had a negative return on equity of 108.77% and a negative net margin of 257.54%. As a group, research analysts predict that Alector will post -1.85 EPS for the current year.

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.