Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) Stock Price Up 8.7% – Here’s Why

Altimmune, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALT) rose 8.7% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $6.41 and last traded at $6.47. Approximately 724,862 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 2,825,199 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.95.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ALT shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Altimmune from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Altimmune in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 target price on shares of Altimmune in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.20.

Altimmune Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.32. The firm has a market cap of $530.44 million, a PE ratio of -4.22 and a beta of 0.58.

Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.35) by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $0.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.00 million. Altimmune had a negative return on equity of 55.81% and a negative net margin of 199,076.92%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.34) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Altimmune, Inc. will post -1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Altimmune

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in Altimmune by 69.3% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 215,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,554,000 after purchasing an additional 88,209 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Altimmune during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Altimmune during the 4th quarter valued at about $472,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Altimmune by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 181,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after buying an additional 32,382 shares during the period. Finally, Bellevue Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Altimmune by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 945,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,817,000 after buying an additional 81,786 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.05% of the company’s stock.

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.