Wall Street Zen Downgrades Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC) to Hold

Key Points

• Alignment Healthcare has been downgraded from a "buy" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, while other analysts have mixed ratings ranging from "strong buy" to "equal weight."
• The company's shares saw a 4.7% increase on Friday, with a market cap of approximately $2.87 billion and a consensus price target of $18.56.
• Despite a quarterly earnings report showing a revenue increase of 49% year-over-year, Alignment Healthcare posted a negative return on equity of 43.68%.

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Sunday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on ALHC. Barclays upgraded shares of Alignment Healthcare from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $9.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Alignment Healthcare from $17.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Stephens upgraded shares of Alignment Healthcare to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Alignment Healthcare from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.56.

Alignment Healthcare Price Performance

NASDAQ:ALHC remained flat at $14.76 during midday trading on Friday. 552,764 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,999,094. Alignment Healthcare has a one year low of $8.24 and a one year high of $21.06. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.30. The firm has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -52.74 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.25 million. Alignment Healthcare had a negative net margin of 1.53% and a negative return on equity of 43.68%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 49.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.13) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alignment Healthcare will post -0.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Alignment Healthcare

In related news, Director Joseph S. Konowiecki sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total transaction of $400,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,152,049 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,432,784. This trade represents a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Robert L. Scavo sold 60,000 shares of Alignment Healthcare stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.60, for a total transaction of $876,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 642,953 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,387,113.80. The trade was a 8.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,599,353 shares of company stock valued at $268,400,501 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 7.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Alignment Healthcare

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Alignment Healthcare by 13.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,113,896 shares of the company's stock worth $206,941,000 after buying an additional 1,295,825 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alignment Healthcare by 5.0% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,078,113 shares of the company's stock valued at $169,035,000 after purchasing an additional 429,071 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Alignment Healthcare by 0.9% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,509,057 shares of the company's stock valued at $139,819,000 after purchasing an additional 70,557 shares during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alignment Healthcare by 6.0% in the second quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 5,517,336 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,243,000 after purchasing an additional 311,424 shares during the period. Finally, 8 Knots Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alignment Healthcare by 28.9% in the first quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC now owns 4,715,472 shares of the company's stock valued at $87,802,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056,777 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.19% of the company's stock.

About Alignment Healthcare

Alignment Healthcare, Inc, a tech-enabled Medicare advantage company, operates consumer-centric health care platform for seniors in the United States. It provides customized health care designed to meet the needs of a diverse array of seniors through its Medicare advantage plans. The company was founded in 2013 and is based in Orange, California.