Altimmune Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:ALT)

Altimmune, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 11,978 call options on the company. This is an increase of 103% compared to the average daily volume of 5,887 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altimmune

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Altimmune by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 189,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $945,000 after acquiring an additional 2,162 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Altimmune by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 48,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 2,241 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Altimmune by 20.3% in the 1st quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 13,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 2,268 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Altimmune by 5.4% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 46,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 2,396 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Altimmune by 10.9% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 27,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748 shares during the last quarter. 78.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altimmune Trading Up 6.3%

Altimmune stock traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $5.12. The stock had a trading volume of 2,118,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,488,101. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.47. The company has a current ratio of 20.44, a quick ratio of 20.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $533.71 million, a PE ratio of -4.33 and a beta of 0.01. Altimmune has a 12 month low of $2.90 and a 12 month high of $10.88.

Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.29) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $0.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.00 million. Altimmune had a negative net margin of 438,730.03% and a negative return on equity of 62.63%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Altimmune will post -1.35 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Citizens Jmp decreased their target price on Altimmune from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Altimmune from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. B. Riley decreased their price objective on shares of Altimmune from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Altimmune in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 target price on shares of Altimmune in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altimmune has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.83.

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.