Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTR) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,110,000 shares, an increase of 25.9% from the January 31st total of 4,060,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 764,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Altair Engineering news, Director Teresa A. Harris sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,069,472.62. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CRO Nelson Dias sold 373 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.53, for a total transaction of $41,600.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 57,573 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,421,116.69. This trade represents a 0.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,924 shares of company stock valued at $3,327,163 in the last quarter. 21.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altair Engineering

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Altair Engineering by 27.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 401,612 shares of the software’s stock valued at $38,358,000 after purchasing an additional 85,303 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Altair Engineering by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 168,665 shares of the software’s stock worth $18,403,000 after buying an additional 2,872 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in Altair Engineering by 141.0% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 50,518 shares of the software’s stock valued at $4,825,000 after buying an additional 29,556 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Altair Engineering during the third quarter valued at $1,356,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Altair Engineering in the 3rd quarter worth about $487,000. Institutional investors own 63.38% of the company’s stock.

Altair Engineering Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ALTR opened at $111.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.73. The company has a market cap of $9.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 654.94, a PEG ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.45. Altair Engineering has a one year low of $75.71 and a one year high of $113.12.

Altair Engineering (NASDAQ:ALTR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The software reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.15). Altair Engineering had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 8.08%. The firm had revenue of $192.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.98 million. As a group, analysts expect that Altair Engineering will post 0.87 EPS 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.