Short Interest in Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) Declines By 8.5%

Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,170,000 shares, a decline of 8.5% from the December 31st total of 5,650,000 shares. Currently, 6.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,250,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Insider Transactions at Alector

In other Alector news, CEO Arnon Rosenthal sold 52,172 shares of Alector stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.52, for a total value of $131,473.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,507,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,317,826.48. The trade was a 2.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sara Kenkare-Mitra sold 26,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.52, for a total value of $66,780.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 565,215 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,341.80. This trade represents a 4.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,161 shares of company stock valued at $239,806 over the last three months. 9.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alector

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in Alector by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,595,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,013,000 after acquiring an additional 137,794 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Alector by 64.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,728,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,716,000 after buying an additional 1,072,298 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Alector by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,903,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,874,000 after buying an additional 148,357 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alector by 18.5% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,017,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,742,000 after buying an additional 159,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alector by 14.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 760,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,544,000 after acquiring an additional 94,145 shares during the period. 85.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alector Price Performance

ALEC traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $1.66. 615,922 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 628,003. Alector has a fifty-two week low of $1.60 and a fifty-two week high of $7.58. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $1.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.05. The stock has a market cap of $162.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.98 and a beta of 0.57.

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.43) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.33 million. Alector had a negative net margin of 257.54% and a negative return on equity of 108.77%. Research analysts anticipate that Alector will post -1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on ALEC shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Alector from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $4.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, December 16th. HC Wainwright lowered their price objective on shares of Alector from $35.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alector in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. BTIG Research cut their price target on Alector from $16.00 to $5.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Mizuho cut Alector from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $9.00 to $2.50 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $3.75.

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.