Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Takes Position in Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN)

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise has acquired a new stake in Align Technology, purchasing 2,290 shares valued at approximately $364,000 in the first quarter.
• Align Technology reported a miss in earnings for the last quarter, with earnings per share at $2.49, while the consensus estimate was $2.57, and revenue decreased by 1.6% year-over-year.
• The company has approved a $1 billion stock repurchase plan, indicating that leadership believes its shares are undervalued, with plans to buy back up to 7.9% of outstanding shares.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in shares of Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,290 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $364,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Align Technology by 58.7% in the 1st quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,937,555 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $307,800,000 after purchasing an additional 716,954 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Align Technology by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,790,014 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $372,299,000 after purchasing an additional 39,209 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Align Technology by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,082,162 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $225,642,000 after purchasing an additional 158,312 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Align Technology by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 736,936 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $153,659,000 after purchasing an additional 86,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Align Technology by 35.2% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 731,846 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $152,597,000 after purchasing an additional 190,711 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ALGN. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Align Technology from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Align Technology in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Align Technology from $275.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Align Technology from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Align Technology from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Align Technology currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Align Technology news, CEO Joseph M. Hogan purchased 7,576 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $131.49 per share, for a total transaction of $996,168.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 184,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,318,418.05. This represents a 4.27% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.66% of the company's stock.

Align Technology Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of ALGN traded up $1.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $137.77. The company had a trading volume of 2,774,098 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,973,974. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $187.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.16. Align Technology, Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.70 and a 1-year high of $262.87. The stock has a market cap of $9.99 billion, a PE ratio of 23.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.61.

Align Technology (NASDAQ:ALGN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.57 by ($0.08). Align Technology had a return on equity of 13.36% and a net margin of 11.04%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.41 earnings per share. Align Technology's revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Align Technology, Inc. will post 7.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Align Technology announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical equipment provider to reacquire up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About Align Technology

Align Technology, Inc designs, manufactures, and markets Invisalign clear aligners, and iTero intraoral scanners and services for orthodontists and general practitioner dentists in the United States, Switzerland, and internationally. The company's Clear Aligner segment offers comprehensive products, including Invisalign comprehensive package that addresses the orthodontic needs of younger patients, such as mandibular advancement, compliance indicators, and compensation for tooth eruption; and Invisalign First Phase I and Invisalign First Comprehensive Phase 2 package for younger patients generally between the ages of six and ten years, which is a mixture of primary/baby and permanent teeth.