Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Shares of Alignment Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALHC) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $12.27, but opened at $12.86. Alignment Healthcare shares last traded at $12.83, with a volume of 8,562 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Alignment Healthcare from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. KeyCorp began coverage on Alignment Healthcare in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Alignment Healthcare from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Alignment Healthcare from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Alignment Healthcare from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.33.

Alignment Healthcare Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. The business’s 50-day moving average is $11.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.69.

Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14). Alignment Healthcare had a negative return on equity of 108.69% and a negative net margin of 5.84%. The company had revenue of $692.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $662.11 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.19) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alignment Healthcare, Inc. will post -0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Alignment Healthcare

In related news, insider Dawn Christine Maroney sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.77, for a total value of $323,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,726,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,590,064.69. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Robert Thomas Freeman sold 8,561 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.01, for a total transaction of $85,695.61. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 399,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,998,284.29. This represents a 2.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 508,433 shares of company stock worth $6,095,028. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Alignment Healthcare by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,239,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,828,000 after purchasing an additional 93,262 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in Alignment Healthcare in the first quarter worth about $918,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alignment Healthcare in the 1st quarter worth approximately $57,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Alignment Healthcare by 27.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 382,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,991,000 after purchasing an additional 82,559 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Alignment Healthcare by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 2,077 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.19% of the company’s stock.

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.