Anson Funds Management LP Takes Position in Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTR)

Anson Funds Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTR) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 50,085 shares of the software’s stock, valued at approximately $5,465,000. Altair Engineering accounts for approximately 0.6% of Anson Funds Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ALTR. FIL Ltd acquired a new stake in Altair Engineering during the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,329,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Altair Engineering by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 168,665 shares of the software’s stock valued at $18,403,000 after purchasing an additional 2,872 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Altair Engineering by 77.0% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 285 shares of the software’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altair Engineering by 185.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 825 shares of the software’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Altair Engineering by 62.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,663 shares of the software’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,023 shares during the last quarter. 63.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Altair Engineering in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $113.00 target price on shares of Altair Engineering in a research note on Monday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.83.

Insider Transactions at Altair Engineering

In other Altair Engineering news, CMO Amy Messano sold 235 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.53, for a total transaction of $26,209.55. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 23,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,637,796.03. This trade represents a 0.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Teresa A. Harris sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.61, for a total transaction of $301,347.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,069,472.62. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,172 shares of company stock worth $1,356,847 in the last quarter. 21.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Altair Engineering Stock Performance

Shares of Altair Engineering stock opened at $111.85 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.84. Altair Engineering Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.71 and a 1-year high of $113.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 657.94, a PEG ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.45.

Altair Engineering (NASDAQ:ALTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 2.13%. As a group, research analysts predict that Altair Engineering Inc. will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current 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.