Altimmune Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:ALT)

Altimmune, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALT) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 25,356 call options on the company. This is an increase of 199% compared to the typical daily volume of 8,475 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Altimmune in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $18.00 price objective on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Altimmune in a research note on Friday. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 price target on shares of Altimmune in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.83.

Altimmune Price Performance

Shares of ALT stock opened at $5.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $455.92 million, a P/E ratio of -3.82 and a beta of 0.87. Altimmune has a 1-year low of $5.14 and a 1-year high of $11.16. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.11.

Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by $0.01. Altimmune had a negative net margin of 199,076.92% and a negative return on equity of 55.81%. The business had revenue of $0.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.00 million. Analysts expect that Altimmune will post -1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Altimmune

In other Altimmune news, CFO Gregory L. Weaver acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $5.20 per share, with a total value of $52,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,000. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altimmune

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ALT. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Altimmune by 356.8% in the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 10,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 8,470 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Altimmune by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 92,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $666,000 after acquiring an additional 13,126 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in Altimmune by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 605,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,364,000 after acquiring an additional 151,001 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altimmune by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 157,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after purchasing an additional 1,964 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Altimmune by 74.1% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 23,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 9,950 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.05% of the company’s stock.

Altimmune Company Profile

Altimmune, Inc, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing treatments for obesity and liver diseases. The company's lead product candidate, pemvidutide, a GLP-1/glucagon dual receptor agonist that is in Phase 2 trial for the treatment of obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.