Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Trims Stake in Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 27,828 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 438 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Align Technology were worth $6,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its stake in Align Technology by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 2,107 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in Align Technology by 52.5% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 122 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its stake in Align Technology by 36.8% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 171 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its stake in Align Technology by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 12,532 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,109,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in Align Technology by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,250 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 88.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Align Technology Trading Up 6.5 %

Shares of ALGN opened at $243.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.13 and a beta of 1.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $232.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $266.66. Align Technology, Inc. has a twelve month low of $176.34 and a twelve month high of $335.73.

Align Technology (NASDAQ:ALGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.09. Align Technology had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 11.34%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.73 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Align Technology, Inc. will post 7.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Align Technology

In related news, Director C Raymond Larkin, Jr. acquired 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $235.33 per share, with a total value of $1,529,645.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 28,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,647,366.51. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on ALGN shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Align Technology from $370.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Align Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 1st. OTR Global reissued a “mixed” rating on shares of Align Technology in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Align Technology from $328.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Align Technology from $370.00 to $325.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $306.88.

About Align Technology

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.