Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) Short Interest Update

Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of 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. Currently, 7.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.3 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Sara Kenkare-Mitra sold 26,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.52, for a total transaction of $66,780.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 565,215 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,341.80. The trade was a 4.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Arnon Rosenthal sold 52,172 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.52, for a total transaction of $131,473.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,507,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,317,826.48. The trade was a 2.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,161 shares of company stock valued at $239,806 over the last quarter. 9.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alector

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALEC. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Alector in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $291,000. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Alector in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Alector by 21.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 279,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,271,000 after purchasing an additional 49,625 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Alector by 61.7% during 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 period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Alector by 20.1% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 109,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $499,000 after buying an additional 18,398 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.83% of the company’s stock.

Alector Stock Performance

NASDAQ ALEC opened at $1.97 on Friday. Alector has a one year low of $1.92 and a one year high of $8.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $4.11 and a 200 day moving average of $4.77. The company has a market capitalization of $192.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.16 and a beta of 0.51.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.43) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.33 million. Alector had a negative return on equity of 108.77% and a negative net margin of 257.54%. On average, equities analysts predict that Alector will post -1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALEC has been the subject of several research reports. BTIG Research decreased their target price on Alector from $16.00 to $5.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. HC Wainwright lowered their price objective on Alector from $35.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alector in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of 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 research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Alector from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $9.00 to $1.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.00.

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.