Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) Trading 7.6% Higher After Strong Earnings

Altimmune, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALT)’s share price rose 7.6% during trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $10.50 and last traded at $10.21. Approximately 1,160,714 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 3,818,485 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.49.

The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.35) by $0.03. Altimmune had a negative net margin of 199,076.92% and a negative return on equity of 52.60%. The business had revenue of $0.01 million during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.39) EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Altimmune in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group assumed coverage on Altimmune in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI raised Altimmune to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Altimmune in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.00.

Insider Activity at Altimmune

In other news, Director David Drutz sold 16,011 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.90, for a total transaction of $110,475.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 41,958 shares in the company, valued at $289,510.20. This represents a 27.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altimmune

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Altimmune by 1,282.4% during the first quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 470,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,785,000 after acquiring an additional 436,000 shares during the last quarter. Knoll Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Altimmune by 183.6% during the 1st quarter. Knoll Capital Management LLC now owns 567,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,774,000 after purchasing an additional 367,219 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Altimmune by 142.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 570,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,791,000 after purchasing an additional 335,444 shares during the period. Bellevue Group AG boosted its stake in Altimmune by 43.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 863,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,303,000 after purchasing an additional 263,660 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Altimmune by 542.8% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 254,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,693,000 after buying an additional 214,968 shares in the last quarter. 78.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altimmune Stock Down 11.2 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $6.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.90. The company has a market cap of $600.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.45 and a beta of 0.09.

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.