Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,390,000 shares, a growth of 34.1% from the November 15th total of 4,020,000 shares. Approximately 7.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.3 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alector

In other news, CFO Marc Grasso sold 16,489 shares of Alector stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.52, for a total transaction of $41,552.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 330,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,240.52. This trade represents a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Arnon Rosenthal sold 52,172 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.52, for a total value of $131,473.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,507,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,317,826.48. This trade represents a 2.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,161 shares of company stock valued at $239,806 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALEC. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Alector by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,595,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,013,000 after buying an additional 137,794 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Alector by 8.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,903,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,874,000 after acquiring an additional 148,357 shares during the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C increased its holdings in Alector by 7.0% in the second quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 1,148,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,213,000 after purchasing an additional 75,481 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Alector by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,017,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,742,000 after acquiring an additional 159,111 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alector by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 760,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,544,000 after buying an additional 94,145 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.83% of the company’s stock.

Alector Stock Down 3.4 %

NASDAQ ALEC opened at $1.97 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $192.93 million, a PE ratio of -1.16 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $4.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.77. Alector has a 12-month low of $1.92 and a 12-month high of $8.90.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $15.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.33 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alector will post -1.85 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALEC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alector in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Alector from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $3.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. BTIG Research dropped their price objective on shares of Alector from $16.00 to $5.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Alector from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $9.00 to $1.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, HC Wainwright lowered their price target on shares of Alector from $35.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.20.

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.