Short Interest in Alignment Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALHC) Expands By 6.0%

Alignment Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALHC) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,750,000 shares, an increase of 6.0% from the August 31st total of 4,480,000 shares. Approximately 5.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,050,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.5 days.

Alignment Healthcare Trading Down 15.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ ALHC opened at $10.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.90 and a beta of 1.43. Alignment Healthcare has a 52-week low of $4.46 and a 52-week high of $12.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $9.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 1.61.

Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $681.29 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $637.66 million. Alignment Healthcare had a negative return on equity of 101.10% and a negative net margin of 6.85%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.15) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alignment Healthcare will post -0.67 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen raised their target price on Alignment Healthcare from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Alignment Healthcare from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Barclays increased their price objective on Alignment Healthcare from $4.50 to $7.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $10.00 price target (up previously from $8.00) on shares of Alignment Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Alignment Healthcare from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $9.83.

Insider Transactions at Alignment Healthcare

In related news, CFO Robert Thomas Freeman sold 14,500 shares of Alignment Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total transaction of $174,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 264,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,173,148. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Robert Thomas Freeman sold 14,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total transaction of $174,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 264,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,173,148. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dawn Christine Maroney sold 7,074 shares of Alignment Healthcare stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.02, for a total value of $63,807.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,789,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,136,987.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 267,973 shares of company stock valued at $2,671,391. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alignment Healthcare

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALHC. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C increased its position in shares of Alignment Healthcare by 31.8% during the second quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 10,901,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,250,000 after acquiring an additional 2,630,788 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alignment Healthcare by 94.4% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,104,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,279,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507,759 shares in the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Alignment Healthcare by 49.6% during the 1st quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 2,920,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,487,000 after acquiring an additional 968,637 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Alignment Healthcare by 16.8% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,565,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,245,000 after purchasing an additional 225,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alignment Healthcare during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,512,000. 86.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.