Align Technology (NASDAQ:ALGN) Receives Overweight Rating from Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler restated their overweight rating on shares of Align Technology (NASDAQ:ALGN) in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $375.00 price objective on the medical equipment provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $355.00.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on ALGN. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Align Technology from $197.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Align Technology from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Align Technology from $333.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Align Technology from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Align Technology in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $341.36.

Align Technology Price Performance

Shares of ALGN stock opened at $310.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $23.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.35, a PEG ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.65. Align Technology has a 1-year low of $176.34 and a 1-year high of $413.20. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $313.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $270.80.

Align Technology (NASDAQ:ALGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The medical equipment provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $956.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $928.57 million. Align Technology had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 13.88%. Analysts expect that Align Technology will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph Lacob sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.01, for a total transaction of $3,130,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 146,994 shares in the company, valued at $46,010,591.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Align Technology news, Director Joseph Lacob sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.01, for a total value of $3,130,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 146,994 shares in the company, valued at $46,010,591.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Emory Wright sold 2,524 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.45, for a total value of $725,523.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 709 shares in the company, valued at $203,802.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,524 shares of company stock worth $8,403,924 over the last ninety days. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Align Technology by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,349,785 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,287,841,000 after purchasing an additional 104,132 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Align Technology by 41.4% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,509,080 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $413,488,000 after purchasing an additional 441,754 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Align Technology by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,228,875 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $375,200,000 after acquiring an additional 29,497 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Align Technology by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,018,161 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $310,866,000 after acquiring an additional 90,581 shares during the period. Finally, Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB acquired a new stake in Align Technology during the 3rd quarter worth about $305,000. 88.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Align Technology Company Profile

Align Technology, Inc designs, manufactures, and markets Invisalign clear aligners, and iTero intraoral scanners and services for orthodontists and general practitioner dentists in the United States, Switzerland, and internationally. The company's Clear Aligner segment offers comprehensive products, including Invisalign comprehensive package that addresses the orthodontic needs of younger patients, such as mandibular advancement, compliance indicators, and compensation for tooth eruption; and Invisalign First Phase I and Invisalign First Comprehensive Phase 2 package for younger patients generally between the ages of six and ten years, which is a mixture of primary/baby and permanent teeth.