Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $3.62 According to Brokerages

Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $3.40.

Several brokerages have commented on ALEC. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Alector from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $1.50 price objective on shares of Alector in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Alector from $2.00 to $3.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alector

In other Alector news, CFO Neil Berkley sold 29,251 shares of Alector stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.66, for a total transaction of $77,807.66. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 350,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $932,726.34. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Arnon Rosenthal sold 72,606 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.66, for a total value of $193,131.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,294,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,103,636. This trade represents a 3.07% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 111,303 shares of company stock worth $295,633 in the last ninety days. 8.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alector

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Alector in the 2nd quarter valued at about $15,774,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alector during the 2nd quarter worth about $8,679,399. Foresite Capital Management IV LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alector during the 4th quarter worth about $6,064,000. Merck & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alector in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,126,896. Finally, 683 Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alector by 235.0% in the 4th quarter. 683 Capital Management LLC now owns 3,350,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,226,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350,000 shares during the period. 85.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alector Stock Performance

Shares of ALEC opened at $2.02 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $2.07 and a 200-day moving average of $2.03. The company has a market cap of $225.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.84 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 5.26 and a current ratio of 5.26. Alector has a 1 year low of $1.09 and a 1 year high of $3.40.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 million. Alector had a negative net margin of 850.13% and a negative return on equity of 531.03%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alector will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

About Alector

Alector, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. The company’s approach, known as immuno-neurology, seeks to use the immune system to protect brain health and address biological mechanisms involved in conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia and Parkinson’s disease.

Alector’s pipeline includes latozinemab, an antibody designed to increase levels of progranulin, a protein associated with the health and function of brain cells.