Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) Stock Short Interest Report for October

Key Points

• Alector’s short interest surged 66.8% to 10.25 million shares as of October 15, representing approximately 10% of shares outstanding; the days-to-cover ratio was 0.9.
• Company insiders sold 111,303 shares worth approximately $295,633 during the last quarter, while institutional investors and hedge funds owned 85.83% of Alector’s stock.
• Analyst sentiment was mixed, with an overall “Hold” rating and an average price target of $4.62 versus a recent share price of $2.21.

Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totaling 10,254,239 shares, an increase of 66.8% from the September 30th total of 6,147,032 shares. Approximately 10.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 10,952,676 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.9 days.

Insider Activity at Alector

In related news, CFO Neil Berkley sold 29,251 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.66, for a total transaction of $77,807.66. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 350,649 shares in the company, valued at $932,726.34. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Arnon Rosenthal sold 72,606 shares of Alector stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.66, for a total transaction of $193,131.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,294,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,103,636. This represents a 3.07% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 111,303 shares of company stock valued at $295,633. Insiders own 8.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alector

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Merck & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alector during the second quarter valued at $7,126,896. Elmind Capital LP bought a new position in Alector during the second quarter valued at about $1,809,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Alector during the second quarter worth about $15,774,000. Spruce Street Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Alector by 87.9% during the 1st quarter. Spruce Street Capital LP now owns 2,101,068 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,517,000 after purchasing an additional 983,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nantahala Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alector during the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,679,399. 85.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alector Price Performance

Alector stock opened at $2.21 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 5.26 and a current ratio of 5.26. Alector has a one year low of $1.09 and a one year high of $2.76. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $246.77 million, a P/E ratio of -2.01 and a beta of 0.61.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by $0.02. Alector had a negative net margin of 850.13% and a negative return on equity of 531.03%. The firm had revenue of $3.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alector will post -0.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on shares of Alector from $5.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Alector from $2.00 to $3.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Alector from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $1.50 target price on shares of Alector in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $4.62.

Alector Company Profile

Alector, Inc NASDAQ: ALEC is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. The company's research platform, known as immuno-neurology, is designed to use the body's immune system to protect or restore the brain's ability to maintain healthy neural connections.

Alector's investigational pipeline has included antibody-based treatments for conditions such as frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Its programs have targeted biological pathways associated with neurodegeneration, including progranulin and TREM2.

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