Morgan Stanley Downgrades Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) to Underweight

Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $3.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $10.00.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on ALEC. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Alector in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alector in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $8.40.

Alector Stock Performance

Shares of Alector stock opened at $2.59 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $253.64 million, a P/E ratio of -1.52 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.99. Alector has a twelve month low of $2.37 and a twelve month high of $8.90.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.43) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 forecast that Alector will post -1.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alector news, CEO Arnon Rosenthal sold 26,499 shares of Alector stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.88, for a total value of $129,315.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,948,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,509,880.48. This trade represents a 1.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Marc Grasso sold 7,297 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.88, for a total value of $35,609.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 130,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $638,011.20. This trade represents a 5.29 % 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. Corporate insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alector

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Alector by 12.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,912,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,574,000 after acquiring an additional 526,037 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alector by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,017,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,742,000 after purchasing an additional 159,111 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alector by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,903,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,874,000 after purchasing an additional 148,357 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alector by 32.8% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 590,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,681,000 after buying an additional 146,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Alector by 1.0% in the third 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. 85.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.