Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Alignment Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALHC) gapped up before the market opened on Friday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $16.00 to $18.00. The stock had previously closed at $13.47, but opened at $15.06. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Alignment Healthcare shares last traded at $14.66, with a volume of 283,407 shares traded.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Alignment Healthcare in a report on Friday. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Alignment Healthcare in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Alignment Healthcare from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alignment Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alignment Healthcare

In other Alignment Healthcare news, President Dawn Christine Maroney sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.61, for a total value of $408,300.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 1,606,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,858,980.17. This trade represents a 1.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Sebastian Burzacchi sold 8,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.26, for a total value of $96,273.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 217,395 shares in the company, valued at $2,447,867.70. This trade represents a 3.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 441,002 shares of company stock valued at $5,772,726 over the last three months. 6.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alignment Healthcare

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ALHC. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alignment Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. RiverPark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alignment Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth about $106,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Alignment Healthcare by 146.7% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 10,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 6,286 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alignment Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth about $121,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in Alignment Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at about $129,000. 86.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alignment Healthcare Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.38 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a fifty day moving average of $13.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.95.

About Alignment Healthcare

Alignment Healthcare, Inc, a tech-enabled Medicare advantage company, operates consumer-centric health care platform for seniors in the United States. It provides customized health care designed to meet the needs of a diverse array of seniors through its Medicare advantage plans. The company was founded in 2013 and is based in Orange, California.