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 Stephens raised their price target on the stock from $6.00 to $7.00. The stock had previously closed at $5.26, but opened at $5.72. Stephens currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Alignment Healthcare shares last traded at $6.48, with a volume of 813,518 shares traded.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on ALHC. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Alignment Healthcare from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Alignment Healthcare from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $6.00 price target (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Alignment Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Alignment Healthcare from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Alignment Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $4.50 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.83.

Insider Transactions at Alignment Healthcare

In other news, CFO Robert Thomas Freeman sold 28,522 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.05, for a total transaction of $144,036.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 869,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,392,015.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Robert Thomas Freeman sold 28,522 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.05, for a total transaction of $144,036.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 869,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,392,015.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John E. Kao purchased 103,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $4.82 per share, for a total transaction of $496,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,745,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,232,119.46. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 90,213 shares of company stock worth $460,587. 6.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alignment Healthcare

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALHC. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Alignment Healthcare by 75.5% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 26,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,000 after acquiring an additional 11,370 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Alignment Healthcare by 38.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 31,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 8,577 shares during the period. Strs Ohio increased its holdings in Alignment Healthcare by 24.2% in the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 85,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $594,000 after buying an additional 16,700 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Alignment Healthcare by 35.5% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 348,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,418,000 after buying an additional 91,386 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Alignment Healthcare by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 345,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,400,000 after buying an additional 49,716 shares during the period. 86.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alignment Healthcare Trading Up 26.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.89 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.54.

Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by ($0.01). Alignment Healthcare had a negative net margin of 7.81% and a negative return on equity of 84.43%. The firm had revenue of $628.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $599.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.20) earnings per share. Alignment Healthcare’s quarterly revenue was up 43.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alignment Healthcare, Inc. will post -0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alignment Healthcare Company Profile

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.