Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC) Shares Down 7.1% Following Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Alignment Healthcare shares fell 7.1% after Raymond James downgraded the stock from “strong buy” to “outperform,” setting a $19 price target. The shares traded as low as $14.10, below the prior close of $14.85.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with seven Buy ratings and four Holds; the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” and the average price target is $24.00.
• The company recently beat quarterly expectations, reporting $0.17 in EPS versus $0.13 expected and $1.34 billion in revenue, up 31.6% year over year. Meanwhile, insiders sold more than 1 million shares worth approximately $20 million over the past three months.

Alignment Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALHC - Get Free Report) shares were down 7.1% on Monday after Raymond James Financial downgraded the stock from a strong-buy rating to an outperform rating. Raymond James Financial now has a $19.00 price target on the stock. Alignment Healthcare traded as low as $14.10 and last traded at $13.7980. Approximately 1,150,863 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 4,433,767 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.85.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on ALHC. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alignment Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Alignment Healthcare in a research note on Friday, April 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Alignment Healthcare from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Alignment Healthcare from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Alignment Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $24.00.

Insider Transactions at Alignment Healthcare

In other news, insider Hyong Kim sold 35,951 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.86, for a total transaction of $713,986.86. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 331,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,588,555. This represents a 9.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, President Dawn Christine Maroney sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.09, for a total value of $482,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 998,813 shares in the company, valued at $16,070,901.17. The trade was a 2.92% 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,039,951 shares of company stock worth $19,976,967. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Alignment Healthcare

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Alignment Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Alignment Healthcare by 463.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,380 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alignment Healthcare by 87.7% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,654 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 773 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alignment Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, First Horizon Corp bought a new position in shares of Alignment Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 86.19% of the company's stock.

Alignment Healthcare Price Performance

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 company has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.66, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a fifty 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.31 billion. Alignment Healthcare had a return on equity of 20.02% and a net margin of 0.89%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 31.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.07 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alignment Healthcare, Inc. will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current year.

About Alignment Healthcare

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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