Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTR) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTR) have been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $100.83.

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Altair Engineering in a report on Friday, February 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $113.00 price objective on shares of Altair Engineering in a research report on Monday, February 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Altair Engineering

In other Altair Engineering news, CMO Amy Messano sold 235 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.53, for a total value of $26,209.55. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 23,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,637,796.03. This trade represents a 0.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew Charles Brown sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.53, for a total transaction of $425,040.83. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,739,512.82. This trade represents a 5.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,172 shares of company stock valued at $1,356,847 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 21.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FIL Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Altair Engineering during the 4th quarter worth $12,329,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Altair Engineering by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 168,665 shares of the software’s stock valued at $18,403,000 after buying an additional 2,872 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Altair Engineering by 77.0% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 285 shares of the software’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altair Engineering by 185.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 825 shares of the software’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in Altair Engineering by 62.4% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,663 shares of the software’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,023 shares during the last quarter. 63.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altair Engineering Stock Performance

ALTR stock opened at $111.85 on Wednesday. Altair Engineering has a 1-year low of $75.71 and a 1-year high of $113.12. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $111.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a PE ratio of 657.94, a PEG ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.45.

Altair Engineering (NASDAQ:ALTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The software reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $192.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.98 million. Altair Engineering had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 8.08%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Altair Engineering will post 0.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Altair Engineering

Altair Engineering Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides software and cloud solutions in the areas of simulation and design, high-performance computing, data analytics, and artificial intelligence in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Software and Client Engineering Services.