Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Alignment Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALHC) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Saturday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $16.00 to $18.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Alignment Healthcare traded as high as $15.85 and last traded at $15.69, with a volume of 4768834 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.47.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on ALHC. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Alignment Healthcare in a research report on Monday, February 24th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Alignment Healthcare in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Alignment Healthcare from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alignment Healthcare news, insider Hakan Kardes sold 10,500 shares of Alignment Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.99, for a total transaction of $157,395.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 309,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,646,060.56. The trade was a 3.28 % 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, CEO John E. Kao sold 90,000 shares of Alignment Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.65, for a total value of $1,048,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,363,100 shares in the company, valued at $27,530,115. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 441,002 shares of company stock worth $5,772,726. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alignment Healthcare

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ALHC. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Alignment Healthcare by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 12,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 2,072 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alignment Healthcare by 1,335.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 194,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,294,000 after purchasing an additional 180,522 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alignment Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,782,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Alignment Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at about $131,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alignment Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at about $315,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.19% of the company’s stock.

Alignment Healthcare Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.95. The stock has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.38 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82.

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.