Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC) Downgraded to "Outperform" Rating by Raymond James Financial

Key Points

• Raymond James downgraded Alignment Healthcare from “strong buy” to “outperform,” maintaining a $19 price target that implies roughly 28% upside from the reported $14.85 share price.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: seven analysts rate the stock a Buy and four rate it a Hold, resulting in a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $24.
• Alignment Healthcare exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.17 EPS versus $0.13 expected and $1.34 billion in revenue, up 31.6% year over year. However, insiders sold more than 1 million shares worth approximately $20 million over the past three months.

Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Raymond James Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $19.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial's price objective suggests a potential upside of 27.95% from the company's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on ALHC. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alignment Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Alignment Healthcare from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research downgraded Alignment Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Alignment Healthcare from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Alignment Healthcare from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Seven investment 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.00.

Alignment Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of ALHC stock opened at $14.85 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.05. Alignment Healthcare has a one year low of $12.91 and a one year high of $25.12. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $19.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.75.

Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.07 EPS. Alignment Healthcare's revenue for the quarter was up 31.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alignment Healthcare will post 0.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Hyong Kim sold 35,951 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.86, for a total transaction of $713,986.86. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 331,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,588,555. This trade represents a 9.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO John E. Kao sold 298,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.86, for a total value of $5,918,280.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,088,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,622,892.76. This represents a 21.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,039,951 shares of company stock valued at $19,976,967. 5.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alignment Healthcare

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. 1492 Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alignment Healthcare by 61.8% in the 4th quarter. 1492 Capital Management LLC now owns 324,865 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,416,000 after acquiring an additional 124,143 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alignment Healthcare by 148.5% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 60,390 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,193,000 after purchasing an additional 36,084 shares during the last quarter. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in Alignment Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,500,000. Simplify Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Alignment Healthcare by 92.0% in the fourth quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 262,880 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,192,000 after buying an additional 125,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alignment Healthcare by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,305,255 shares of the company's stock worth $45,529,000 after acquiring an additional 185,303 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.19% of the company's stock.

Alignment Healthcare Company Profile

Alignment Healthcare, Inc NASDAQ: ALHC is a health care company specializing in value-based care for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries. The company leverages an integrated care model that combines in-home clinical services, telehealth capabilities and digital health tools to manage chronic conditions, improve outcomes and enhance patient experience.

At the core of Alignment Healthcare's approach is a proprietary technology platform that aggregates real-time clinical and claims data to support preventive care, risk stratification and personalized care plans.

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