Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 2,872 Shares of Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTR) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 168,665 shares of the software’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,872 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.20% of Altair Engineering worth $18,403,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new stake in Altair Engineering in the fourth quarter worth about $251,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Altair Engineering by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 178,626 shares of the software’s stock valued at $19,490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,875 shares during the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new stake in shares of Altair Engineering during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,421,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altair Engineering by 185.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 825 shares of the software’s stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Altair Engineering by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 8,600 shares of the software’s stock valued at $938,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.38% of the company’s stock.

Altair Engineering Stock Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:ALTR opened at $111.70 on Tuesday. Altair Engineering Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.71 and a 1 year high of $113.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $110.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.81. The stock has a market cap of $9.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 657.06, a PEG ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 3.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Altair Engineering (NASDAQ:ALTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The software reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.15). The business 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 8.23%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altair Engineering Inc. will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Altair Engineering

In related news, CFO Matthew Charles Brown sold 1,048 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.90, for a total transaction of $114,127.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 55,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,046,019.10. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Ralph Scapa sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.69, for a total value of $1,373,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 134,045 shares in the company, valued at $14,167,216.05. The trade was a 8.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,143 shares of company stock valued at $6,265,694 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 21.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on ALTR. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $113.00 target price on shares of Altair Engineering in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Altair Engineering from $90.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $113.00 price objective on shares of Altair Engineering in a report on Monday. Wolfe Research cut Altair Engineering from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 3rd. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Altair Engineering in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Altair Engineering has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.83.

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.