Alignment Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALHC) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Alignment Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALHC) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 7,050,000 shares, a drop of 13.2% from the February 13th total of 8,120,000 shares. Approximately 6.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,930,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO John E. Kao sold 90,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.06, for a total value of $1,175,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,273,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,686,686. This trade represents a 3.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert L. Scavo sold 5,313 shares of Alignment Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.43, for a total transaction of $81,979.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 668,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,308,875.58. This represents a 0.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,829,454 shares of company stock valued at $27,936,991. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alignment Healthcare

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Alignment Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. RiverPark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Alignment Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at about $106,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Alignment Healthcare by 146.7% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 10,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 6,286 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new stake in Alignment Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth approximately $121,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in Alignment Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth approximately $129,000. 86.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alignment Healthcare Price Performance

ALHC stock opened at $16.74 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.56. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of -21.74 and a beta of 1.49. Alignment Healthcare has a one year low of $4.46 and a one year high of $17.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.60.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Alignment Healthcare from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Alignment Healthcare in a report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Alignment Healthcare from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Alignment Healthcare in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Alignment Healthcare from $15.50 to $18.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.83.

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.