Alignment Healthcare Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:ALHC)

Alignment Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALHC) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 30,068 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,049% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,617 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALHC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Alignment Healthcare from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Alignment Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alignment Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Alignment Healthcare from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut Alignment Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alignment Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.60.

Alignment Healthcare Price Performance

ALHC stock opened at $7.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.70. Alignment Healthcare has a 1 year low of $7.37 and a 1 year high of $25.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $12.67 and a 200 day moving average of $17.03. The company has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.74 and a beta of 1.14.

Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Alignment Healthcare had a return on equity of 20.02% and a net margin of 0.89%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.07 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alignment Healthcare will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Dawn Maroney sold 122,707 shares of Alignment Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total value of $1,555,924.76. Following the transaction, the president owned 794,606 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,075,604.08. The trade was a 13.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO John E. Kao sold 27,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.00, for a total value of $356,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 590,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,679,958. This trade represents a 4.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 1,327,488 shares of company stock valued at $19,291,194 over the last three months. Insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alignment Healthcare

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Alignment Healthcare during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,164,000. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Alignment Healthcare by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 53,553 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,275,000 after acquiring an additional 7,318 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S bought a new position in shares of Alignment Healthcare in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its position in Alignment Healthcare by 128.2% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 136,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,250,000 after acquiring an additional 76,677 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alignment Healthcare during the 2nd quarter valued at about $755,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.19% of the company’s stock.

Alignment Healthcare Company Profile

Alignment Healthcare, Inc is a technology-enabled Medicare Advantage company focused on providing health coverage and care services for older adults. The company offers Medicare Advantage plans that combine medical benefits with care coordination, wellness support, and other services designed to help members manage their health.

Alignment operates through an integrated healthcare model that uses its proprietary technology platform to support physicians, care teams, and members. Its services include personalized care management, clinical coordination, virtual and in-home support, and member assistance through its concierge-style approach.