Alignment Healthcare Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:ALHC)

Alignment Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALHC) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors purchased 16,250 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 453% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,941 call options.

Alignment Healthcare Stock Performance

Alignment Healthcare stock opened at $10.82 on Friday. Alignment Healthcare has a 12-month low of $4.46 and a 12-month high of $14.25. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.05 and a beta of 1.42.

Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14). Alignment Healthcare had a negative net margin of 5.84% and a negative return on equity of 108.69%. The business had revenue of $692.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $662.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.19) earnings per share. Alignment Healthcare’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alignment Healthcare will post -0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Alignment Healthcare

In other Alignment Healthcare news, CFO Robert Thomas Freeman sold 4,483 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.01, for a total value of $53,840.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 159,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,917,108.26. This represents a 2.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Dawn Christine Maroney sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.77, for a total value of $323,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,726,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,590,064.69. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 653,546 shares of company stock worth $7,875,008. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alignment Healthcare

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ALHC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Alignment Healthcare by 249.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 288,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,407,000 after purchasing an additional 205,705 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Alignment Healthcare by 1,335.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 194,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,294,000 after acquiring an additional 180,522 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Alignment Healthcare by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,442,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,875,000 after acquiring an additional 32,839 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Alignment Healthcare by 144.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 193,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,287,000 after acquiring an additional 114,191 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Alignment Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at $523,000. Institutional investors own 86.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALHC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Alignment Healthcare from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stephens upgraded Alignment Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $13.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. KeyCorp started coverage on Alignment Healthcare in a report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Alignment Healthcare from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $11.44.

About Alignment Healthcare

Alignment Healthcare, Inc, a tech-enabled Medicare advantage company, operates consumer-centric health care platform for seniors in the United States. It provides customized health care designed to meet the needs of a diverse array of seniors through its Medicare advantage plans. The company was founded in 2013 and is based in Orange, California.