Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Stifel Nicolaus

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) was downgraded by research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $4.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 103.05% from the company’s current price.

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

Alector Price Performance

Shares of ALEC opened at $1.97 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $4.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.76. The stock has a market cap of $192.93 million, a PE ratio of -1.16 and a beta of 0.51. Alector has a 1-year low of $1.92 and a 1-year high of $8.90.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.43) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 108.77% and a negative net margin of 257.54%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alector will post -1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Alector

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Alector during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Alector in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Alector during the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Valence8 US LP acquired a new stake in Alector during the third quarter worth about $69,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Alector by 65.3% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 18,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 7,395 shares during the period. 85.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alector Company Profile

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.