Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) Trading 8.7% Higher – Here’s Why

Altimmune, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALT)’s share price shot up 8.7% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $6.41 and last traded at $6.47. 724,862 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 2,825,199 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on ALT. Wall Street Zen upgraded Altimmune from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $12.00 price objective on shares of Altimmune in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Altimmune in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.20.

Altimmune Stock Up 14.7%

The firm has a market capitalization of $553.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.38 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $5.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $6.31.

Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.35) by $0.09. Altimmune had a negative return on equity of 55.81% and a negative net margin of 199,076.92%. The company had revenue of $0.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.34) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altimmune, Inc. will post -1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Altimmune

In related news, CFO Gregory L. Weaver acquired 10,000 shares of Altimmune stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $5.20 per share, for a total transaction of $52,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,000. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altimmune

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALT. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in shares of Altimmune by 69.3% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 215,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,554,000 after acquiring an additional 88,209 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Altimmune in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Altimmune during the fourth quarter worth $472,000. Bellevue Group AG boosted its position in shares of Altimmune by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 945,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,817,000 after buying an additional 81,786 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Altimmune by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 181,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after buying an additional 32,382 shares in the last quarter. 78.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.