Royce & Associates LP Sells 252,016 Shares of Alphatec Holdings, Inc. $ATEC

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP cut its Alphatec stake by 45.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 252,016 shares and leaving it with 302,678 shares valued at about $6.37 million.
• Insider selling has been heavy, with EVP David Sponsel and COO Scott Lish recently selling a combined 423,987 shares; insiders sold 629,189 shares worth about $7.8 million in the last quarter.
• Analysts remain mostly bullish despite lowering price targets, with 10 Buy ratings and a consensus target of $18.58, while Alphatec’s stock recently traded at $7.89 after reporting a larger-than-expected quarterly loss.

Royce & Associates LP lessened its position in Alphatec Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATEC - Free Report) by 45.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 302,678 shares of the medical technology company's stock after selling 252,016 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.20% of Alphatec worth $6,368,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning increased its stake in Alphatec by 0.9% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 58,654 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $853,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphatec by 2.1% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 41,296 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $600,000 after acquiring an additional 846 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Alphatec by 2.8% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 34,603 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $503,000 after acquiring an additional 949 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Alphatec by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,075 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 1,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphatec by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 21,470 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,633 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.35% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP David Sponsel sold 163,452 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total transaction of $2,046,419.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 504,932 shares in the company, valued at $6,321,748.64. The trade was a 24.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Scott Lish sold 260,535 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.30, for a total value of $3,204,580.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 815,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,033,159.20. This represents a 24.21% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 629,189 shares of company stock worth $7,801,589 in the last quarter. 13.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $14.00 target price (down from $25.00) on shares of Alphatec in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Alphatec from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of Alphatec in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Lake Street Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Alphatec in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Alphatec from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $18.58.

Alphatec Stock Performance

NASDAQ ATEC opened at $7.89 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.35. Alphatec Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $6.82 and a 12-month high of $23.29. The firm has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.62 and a beta of 0.96.

Alphatec (NASDAQ:ATEC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical technology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.21). Alphatec had a negative net margin of 15.93% and a negative return on equity of 1,183.84%. The business had revenue of $192.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $197.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.35) earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphatec Holdings, Inc. will post -0.44 EPS for the current year.

Alphatec Profile

Alphatec Holdings, Inc NASDAQ: ATEC is a medical technology company focused on the design, development and commercialization of products for the surgical correction of degenerative spinal conditions. The company's portfolio centers on interbody implants, biologics, fixation devices and surgical planning tools intended to improve patient outcomes in spinal fusion procedures. Alphatec's flagship offerings include customizable interbody cages, bone graft materials and specialized instrumentation designed for minimally invasive and open spinal surgeries.

Founded as Alphatec Spine in 1985 and rebranded as Alphatec Holdings in 2018, the company has grown from a single-product organization into a multi-platform innovator in the spine market.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.