Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) Lowered to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Sunday morning.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Alector in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. BTIG Research raised shares of Alector from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Alector in a report on Thursday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alector presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $3.25.

Alector Stock Down 5.1%

ALEC stock opened at $2.43 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 3.83 and a current ratio of 3.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $268.17 million, a P/E ratio of -1.75 and a beta of 0.57. Alector has a one year low of $0.87 and a one year high of $3.40.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.34) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 million. Alector had a negative return on equity of 224.96% and a negative net margin of 679.16%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alector will post -1.88 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Neil Lindsay Berkley sold 37,261 shares of Alector stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.12, for a total transaction of $41,732.32. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 374,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $419,226.08. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Arnon Rosenthal sold 104,347 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.12, for a total transaction of $116,868.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,420,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,710,444.80. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 200,183 shares of company stock valued at $230,262. Company insiders own 9.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alector

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ALEC. Foresite Capital Management IV LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alector during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,064,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Alector in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,094,000. 683 Capital Management LLC grew its position in Alector by 235.0% in the fourth quarter. 683 Capital Management LLC now owns 3,350,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,226,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350,000 shares in the last quarter. Ikarian Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Alector by 174.0% during the fourth quarter. Ikarian Capital LLC now owns 2,082,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322,606 shares during the period. Finally, Spruce Street Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Alector during the fourth quarter worth $1,744,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.83% of the company’s stock.

About Alector

Alector is a clinical-stage biotechnology company headquartered in South San Francisco, California. Founded in 2013, the company is focused on discovering and developing immuno-neurology therapies that target the innate immune system to treat a range of neurodegenerative disorders. Alector’s approach aims to harness the body’s natural defense mechanisms to clear pathological proteins and restore neuronal function in conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia.

The company’s pipeline includes multiple product candidates in both preclinical and clinical stages, with lead programs AL001 and AL002 advancing in frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease studies.