Short Interest in Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) Drops By 8.5%

Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,170,000 shares, a drop of 8.5% from the December 15th total of 5,650,000 shares. Currently, 6.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,250,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ALEC shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alector in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. HC Wainwright cut their price target on Alector from $35.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Mizuho cut Alector from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $9.00 to $2.50 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America lowered Alector from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $9.00 to $1.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BTIG Research reduced their target price on Alector from $16.00 to $5.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $3.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Arnon Rosenthal sold 52,172 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,507,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,317,826.48. This trade represents a 2.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 value of $41,552.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 330,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $833,240.52. This represents a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90 days. Insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alector

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alector by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 39,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 8,581 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Alector by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 165,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 7,971 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Alector by 64.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,728,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,716,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072,298 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Alector by 132.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 176,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $824,000 after purchasing an additional 100,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 148,357 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.83% of the company’s stock.

Alector Trading Up 1.8 %

ALEC stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $1.71. The stock had a trading volume of 529,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,234,719. Alector has a twelve month low of $1.60 and a twelve month high of $7.58. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $2.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.29.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.43) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $15.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.33 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alector will post -1.88 EPS 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.