Traders Buy Large Volume of Altimmune Call Options (NASDAQ:ALT)

Altimmune, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALT) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders purchased 25,356 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 199% compared to the typical daily volume of 8,475 call options.

Insider Transactions at Altimmune

In other news, CFO Gregory L. Weaver bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $5.20 per share, with a total value of $52,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $52,000. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALT. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altimmune during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Altimmune during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altimmune during the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Altimmune during the 4th quarter worth approximately $72,000. Finally, 180 Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altimmune during the 4th quarter worth approximately $78,000. 78.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altimmune Price Performance

ALT opened at $5.92 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $6.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.11. Altimmune has a 1-year low of $5.14 and a 1-year high of $11.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $455.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.82 and a beta of 0.87.

Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by $0.01. Altimmune had a negative net margin of 199,076.92% and a negative return on equity of 55.81%. The business had revenue of $0.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.00 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Altimmune will post -1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ALT shares. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Altimmune in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Altimmune in a research note on Friday. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $12.00 price target on shares of Altimmune in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.83.

About Altimmune

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.