Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) Rating Lowered to Underweight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $3.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $10.00.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on ALEC. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Alector in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alector in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.00.

Alector Stock Performance

Shares of Alector stock opened at $2.57 on Tuesday. Alector has a one year low of $2.37 and a one year high of $8.90. The company has a market cap of $251.68 million, a P/E ratio of -1.52 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $4.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.06.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.43) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by $0.10. Alector had a negative net margin of 257.54% and a negative return on equity of 108.77%. The firm had revenue of $15.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.33 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alector will post -1.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Sara Kenkare-Mitra sold 13,926 shares of Alector stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.88, for a total transaction of $67,958.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 291,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,423,569.20. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Arnon Rosenthal sold 26,499 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.88, for a total transaction of $129,315.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,948,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,509,880.48. The trade was a 1.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 47,722 shares of company stock worth $232,883. 9.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ALEC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Alector by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,912,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,574,000 after buying an additional 526,037 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Alector by 73.1% in the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 92,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 38,947 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Alector by 54.2% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 6,723 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Alector by 32.8% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 590,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,681,000 after purchasing an additional 146,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Alector by 61.7% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 355,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,613,000 after purchasing an additional 135,614 shares during the last quarter. 85.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Alector

Alector, Inc, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, develops therapies for the treatment of neurodegeneration diseases. Its products include AL001, an immune activity in the brain with genetic links to multiple neurodegenerative disorders, which is in Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis diseases; and AL101 that is in Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.