Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC) Stock Price Up 3.8% – Should You Buy?

Alignment Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALHC) shares shot up 3.8% during trading on Friday. The stock traded as high as $7.85 and last traded at $7.9650. Approximately 473,235 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 5,195,394 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALHC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alignment Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Alignment Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Alignment Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Alignment Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Alignment Healthcare from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.60.

Alignment Healthcare Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $13.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.37. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.87 and a beta of 1.11.

Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.04. Alignment Healthcare had a net margin of 0.89% and a return on equity of 20.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 31.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Alignment Healthcare, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Joseph Konowiecki sold 23,511 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.61, for a total value of $202,429.71. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 1,080,305 shares in the company, valued at $9,301,426.05. This represents a 2.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO John Kao sold 27,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.00, for a total value of $356,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 590,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,679,958. The trade was a 4.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 1,352,488 shares of company stock worth $19,891,194 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alignment Healthcare

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ALHC. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in Alignment Healthcare during the second quarter worth approximately $1,164,000. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Alignment Healthcare by 15.8% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 53,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,275,000 after acquiring an additional 7,318 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in shares of Alignment Healthcare in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Corient Private Wealth LP raised its stake in Alignment Healthcare by 128.2% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 136,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,250,000 after buying an additional 76,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new position in Alignment Healthcare during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $755,000. 86.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Alignment Healthcare

Alignment Healthcare, Inc is a technology-enabled healthcare company that provides Medicare Advantage health plans and care-management services for older adults. Through its Alignment Health Plan subsidiary, the company offers insurance coverage designed for Medicare-eligible members, including primary and specialty care coordination, prescription drug benefits, preventive services and access to a network of healthcare providers.

The company combines health-plan operations with proprietary technology intended to support personalized care.