Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,720,000 shares, an increase of 25.1% from the May 15th total of 5,370,000 shares. Approximately 8.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 871,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.7 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alector

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Alector by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 759,874 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,436,000 after buying an additional 40,291 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Alector by 723.0% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 165,589 shares of the company's stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 145,469 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Alector by 26.1% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 57,983 shares of the company's stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 12,004 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Alector by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 160,570 shares of the company's stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 17,509 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in Alector by 127.3% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 25,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 14,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.83% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on ALEC shares. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on Alector from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and set a $1.50 target price (down previously from $3.00) on shares of Alector in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $4.00.

Alector Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ALEC traded up $0.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $1.47. 709,033 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 838,800. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $1.27 and a 200 day moving average of $1.50. The company has a market cap of $146.99 million, a PE ratio of -1.17 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 3.34 and a quick ratio of 3.34. Alector has a 52-week low of $0.87 and a 52-week high of $6.78.

About Alector

Alector, Inc, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, develops therapies for the treatment of neurodegeneration diseases. Its products include AL001, an immune activity in the brain with genetic links to multiple neurodegenerative disorders, which is in Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis diseases; and AL101 that is in Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.