Investors Purchase High Volume of Alphatec Put Options (NASDAQ:ATEC)

Alphatec Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATEC) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders purchased 4,816 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 246% compared to the average daily volume of 1,392 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ATEC. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Alphatec from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Alphatec in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Alphatec from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Alphatec in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Alphatec from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphatec currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.67.

Alphatec Stock Up 3.2 %

Alphatec stock opened at $10.23 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.99 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.38. Alphatec has a one year low of $4.88 and a one year high of $13.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 30.21, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 2.32.

Alphatec (NASDAQ:ATEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical technology company reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.04). Alphatec had a negative net margin of 31.06% and a negative return on equity of 541.39%. The firm had revenue of $176.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.74 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alphatec will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP David Sponsel sold 33,732 shares of Alphatec stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.83, for a total transaction of $365,317.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 668,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,245,020.91. The trade was a 4.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Scott Lish sold 27,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.49, for a total value of $315,434.97. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 867,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,969,608.73. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 278,800 shares of company stock worth $3,201,469. 22.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Alphatec by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,968,980 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $54,795,000 after purchasing an additional 47,797 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphatec by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,989,057 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $45,800,000 after buying an additional 1,334,780 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Alphatec by 171.2% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,185,283 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $29,240,000 after buying an additional 2,010,806 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Alphatec by 10.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,138,960 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $17,453,000 after acquiring an additional 287,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphatec by 78.4% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 2,584,996 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $23,730,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136,330 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.35% of the company’s stock.

About Alphatec

Alphatec Holdings, Inc, a medical technology company, designs, develops, and advances technologies for the surgical treatment of spinal disorders in the United States and internationally. It manufactures and sells implants and instruments through third-party suppliers. The company offers Alpha InformatiX product platform, including EOS imaging system that provides full-body imaging; VEA alignment mobile application, which leverages EOS technology to more quickly quantify alignment parameters on a mobile device; SafeOp Neural InformatiX System that automates electromyographic and somatosensory evoked potential monitoring; and Valence, an intra-operative system that integrates navigation and robotics into spine procedures, as well as Sigma Prone TransPsoas (PTP) Access and PTP Patient Positioning Systems.