Alphatec Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATEC) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Alphatec Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATEC - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 11,420,000 shares, an increase of 7.8% from the November 15th total of 10,590,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,120,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.4 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphatec

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Alphatec by 11.8% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,275 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in Alphatec by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 19,609 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 1,460 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphatec by 15.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 12,720 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720 shares during the period. Comerica Bank grew its position in shares of Alphatec by 64.8% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 6,443 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 2,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of Alphatec by 14.9% in the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 21,623 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.35% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ATEC. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $13.00 price target on shares of Alphatec in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Alphatec from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Alphatec in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Lake Street Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Alphatec from $32.00 to $18.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Alphatec in a research note on Friday, August 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphatec currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $17.11.

Alphatec Price Performance

ATEC stock traded down $0.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $9.62. 771,119 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,926,179. Alphatec has a one year low of $4.88 and a one year high of $17.34. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.52 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 30.21. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.12.

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.