Verition Fund Management LLC Sells 473,794 Shares of Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC)

Verition Fund Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) by 88.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 64,369 shares of the company’s stock after selling 473,794 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Alector were worth $300,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ALEC. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Alector in the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Valence8 US LP purchased a new position in shares of Alector during the third quarter valued at approximately $69,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Alector by 65.3% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 18,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 7,395 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 6,723 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alector in the third quarter worth approximately $90,000. 85.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ALEC. Morgan Stanley cut Alector from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $10.00 to $3.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. BTIG Research lowered their target price on Alector from $16.00 to $5.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America downgraded Alector from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $9.00 to $1.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. HC Wainwright lowered their price objective on shares of Alector from $35.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alector in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.00.

Insider Transactions at Alector

In other Alector news, insider Sara Kenkare-Mitra sold 26,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.52, for a total transaction of $66,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 565,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,424,341.80. This trade represents a 4.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Marc Grasso sold 16,489 shares of Alector stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.52, for a total transaction of $41,552.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 330,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,240.52. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,161 shares of company stock valued at $239,806 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Alector Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ALEC opened at $1.97 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.93 million, a PE ratio of -1.16 and a beta of 0.51. Alector, Inc. has a 52-week low of $1.92 and a 52-week high of $8.90.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.43) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by $0.10. Alector had a negative return on equity of 108.77% and a negative net margin of 257.54%. The company had revenue of $15.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.33 million. Equities analysts forecast that Alector, Inc. will post -1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alector Company Profile

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.