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

Alignment Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALHC) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,420,000 shares, an increase of 13.0% from the September 30th total of 3,910,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,200,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days. Approximately 5.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on ALHC. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Alignment Healthcare from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Alignment Healthcare from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $10.00 price target (up previously from $8.00) on shares of Alignment Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Alignment Healthcare from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Alignment Healthcare from $4.50 to $7.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alignment Healthcare currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $9.83.

Insider Activity

In other Alignment Healthcare news, CFO Robert Thomas Freeman sold 30,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.50, for a total value of $350,750.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 164,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,887,253.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO John E. Kao sold 90,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.33, for a total value of $1,019,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,543,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,813,323. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Robert Thomas Freeman sold 30,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.50, for a total value of $350,750.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 164,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,887,253.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 314,940 shares of company stock valued at $3,487,014. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alignment Healthcare

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALHC. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alignment Healthcare in the third quarter worth about $95,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Alignment Healthcare during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alignment Healthcare in the first quarter valued at $57,000. Creative Planning increased its position in Alignment Healthcare by 20.0% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 12,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 2,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Alignment Healthcare by 110.0% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 36,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 19,129 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.19% of the company’s stock.

Alignment Healthcare Stock Performance

ALHC opened at $11.54 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.61. Alignment Healthcare has a 1-year low of $4.46 and a 1-year high of $12.36. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.64. The firm has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.74 and a beta of 1.47.

Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.01. Alignment Healthcare had a negative net margin of 6.85% and a negative return on equity of 101.10%. The firm had revenue of $681.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $637.66 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.15) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Alignment Healthcare will post -0.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alignment Healthcare Company Profile

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.