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

Alignment Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALHC)’s share price gapped up prior to trading 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 trading hands.

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

Insider Transactions at Alignment Healthcare

In other news, insider Andreas P. Wagner sold 14,878 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.38, for a total transaction of $213,945.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 200,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,888,726.30. The trade was a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John E. Kao sold 90,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.65, for a total value of $1,048,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,363,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,530,115. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 441,002 shares of company stock worth $5,772,726. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alignment Healthcare

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Alignment Healthcare by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,818,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,453,000 after purchasing an additional 166,837 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Alignment Healthcare by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,649,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,302,000 after purchasing an additional 3,059,596 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Alignment Healthcare by 77.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,438,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,683,000 after purchasing an additional 3,257,630 shares in the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Alignment Healthcare by 39.6% during the 4th quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 4,952,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,721,000 after purchasing an additional 1,405,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 8 Knots Management LLC boosted its stake in Alignment Healthcare by 49.5% during the 4th quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC now owns 3,658,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,160,000 after purchasing an additional 1,211,727 shares in the last quarter. 86.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alignment Healthcare Trading Up 16.5 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current 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.

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.