Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has $4.00 price target on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of Alector from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $9.00 to $1.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alector in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Alector from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $3.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. HC Wainwright cut their price objective on shares of Alector from $35.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered their target price on shares of Alector from $16.00 to $5.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.00.

Alector Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of ALEC stock opened at $1.98 on Monday. Alector has a 12-month low of $1.85 and a 12-month high of $8.90. The company has a market capitalization of $193.91 million, a P/E ratio of -1.16 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $4.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.76.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alector news, CEO Arnon Rosenthal sold 52,172 shares of Alector 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,507,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,317,826.48. The trade was a 2.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 565,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,424,341.80. The trade was a 4.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,161 shares of company stock worth $239,806 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alector

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Alector by 132.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 176,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 100,731 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alector by 24.2% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 154,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $722,000 after acquiring an additional 30,180 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Alector during the third quarter valued at $639,000. Finally, Sphera Funds Management LTD. increased its holdings in shares of Alector by 1.6% during the third quarter. Sphera Funds Management LTD. now owns 620,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,889,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. 85.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.