Altimmune Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:ALT)

Altimmune, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALT) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 8,671 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 83% compared to the average volume of 4,736 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Altimmune in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Citizens Jmp cut their price objective on shares of Altimmune from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Altimmune in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Altimmune from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Altimmune in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altimmune has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altimmune

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALT. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Altimmune by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 48,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 2,241 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Altimmune during the 1st quarter worth approximately $50,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Altimmune by 48.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 32,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 10,671 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its holdings in Altimmune by 30.2% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 41,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 9,558 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in Altimmune by 7.0% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 113,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $441,000 after buying an additional 7,462 shares in the last quarter. 78.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altimmune Stock Performance

Shares of Altimmune stock traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $3.17. 964,075 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,360,546. The business has a 50-day moving average of $2.95 and a 200-day moving average of $3.28. Altimmune has a 1 year low of $2.56 and a 1 year high of $6.44. The company has a current ratio of 26.78, a quick ratio of 26.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $617.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.07 and a beta of 0.27.

Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14) by $0.02. Altimmune had a negative return on equity of 31.41% and a negative net margin of 214,860.98%. As a group, analysts expect that Altimmune will post -0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Altimmune

Altimmune, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, dedicated to the development of vaccines and immunotherapeutics. The company leverages proprietary technology platforms to create intranasal vaccine candidates and novel therapies targeting liver diseases and metabolic disorders. Altimmune’s approach emphasizes the stimulation of both systemic and mucosal immune responses to address unmet medical needs in infectious and chronic conditions.

Among its lead programs, NasoVAX is an investigational intranasal influenza vaccine designed to provide broad, long-lasting protection through a single, non-invasive dose.