Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on ALEC. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Alector from $2.00 to $3.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of Alector from $5.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $1.50 price target on shares of Alector in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Alector from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alector presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.62.

Alector Stock Up 7.4%

ALEC opened at $2.46 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $2.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.04. The company has a quick ratio of 5.26, a current ratio of 5.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Alector has a 12-month low of $1.09 and a 12-month high of $2.76.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by $1.34. The firm had revenue of $162.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 million. Alector had a negative net margin of 850.13% and a negative return on equity of 531.03%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alector will post -0.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alector

In other Alector news, CFO Neil Berkley sold 29,251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.66, for a total transaction of $77,807.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 350,649 shares in the company, valued at $932,726.34. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Arnon Rosenthal sold 72,606 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.66, for a total transaction of $193,131.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,294,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,103,636. The trade was a 3.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 111,303 shares of company stock worth $295,633 over the last 90 days. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Alector during the second quarter worth about $15,774,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alector during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $8,679,399. Merck & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Alector during the 2nd quarter worth $7,126,896. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Alector during the 2nd quarter worth $5,796,000. Finally, Spruce Street Capital LP bought a new position in Alector during the 2nd quarter worth $4,223,147. 85.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Alector

Alector, Inc (NASDAQ: ALEC) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. The company’s research platform, known as immuno-neurology, is designed to use the body’s immune system to protect or restore the brain’s ability to maintain healthy neural connections.

Alector’s investigational pipeline has included antibody-based treatments for conditions such as frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Its programs have targeted biological pathways associated with neurodegeneration, including progranulin and TREM2.