UBS Group Has Lowered Expectations for Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC) Stock Price

Key Points

• UBS Group lowered its Alignment Healthcare price target from $9 to $8 while maintaining a “neutral” rating, implying roughly 10% upside from the stock’s $7.27 price.
• Analyst sentiment has weakened, with JPMorgan, KeyCorp, William Blair and Barclays also reducing targets or ratings. MarketBeat data shows a consensus “Hold” rating and an average target price of $14.18.
• Alignment Healthcare’s latest quarterly revenue rose 36.7% year over year to $1.36 billion, while adjusted earnings matched estimates at a $0.04-per-share loss; institutional investors own 86.19% of the company.

Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by equities research analysts at UBS Group from $9.00 to $8.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. UBS Group's price target indicates a potential upside of 10.04% from the stock's current price.

ALHC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Alignment Healthcare from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Alignment Healthcare from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Friday. William Blair downgraded Alignment Healthcare from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on Alignment Healthcare from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Alignment Healthcare in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alignment Healthcare has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $14.18.

Alignment Healthcare Price Performance

Alignment Healthcare stock opened at $7.27 on Friday. Alignment Healthcare has a 1-year low of $6.01 and a 1-year high of $25.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.93 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.71. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $9.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.82.

Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Alignment Healthcare had a net margin of 0.59% and a return on equity of 12.46%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 36.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Alignment Healthcare will post 0.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alignment Healthcare news, President Dawn Maroney sold 122,707 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total transaction of $1,555,924.76. Following the transaction, the president owned 794,606 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,075,604.08. This trade represents a 13.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Hyong Kim sold 32,479 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.30, for a total value of $269,575.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 299,271 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,483,949.30. This represents a 9.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 1,061,967 shares of company stock worth $13,642,490 in the last 90 days. 5.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alignment Healthcare

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Alignment Healthcare by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,780,363 shares of the company's stock worth $447,160,000 after buying an additional 1,681,427 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alignment Healthcare during the second quarter worth $184,799,000. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new stake in shares of Alignment Healthcare in the second quarter valued at $87,794,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Alignment Healthcare in the second quarter valued at $87,077,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Alignment Healthcare by 156.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,215,667 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961,778 shares during the period. 86.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alignment Healthcare Company Profile

Alignment Healthcare, Inc is a technology-enabled health insurance company focused on providing Medicare Advantage plans for seniors. The company combines health plan coverage with care coordination and clinical services designed to help members manage chronic conditions, access providers and navigate the health care system.

Its offerings include Medicare Advantage plans, supplemental benefits and member support services. Alignment also uses its proprietary technology platform, including the Alignment Virtual Application (AVA), to support care teams, analyze health information and help deliver more personalized services to members.

Founded in 2013, Alignment Healthcare serves Medicare-eligible consumers in selected markets, including California, Florida, Nevada and North Carolina.

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