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

Altimmune, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALT) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Investors purchased 25,356 call options on the company. This is an increase of 199% compared to the average daily volume of 8,475 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on ALT shares. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 target price on shares of Altimmune in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Altimmune in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Finally, William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Altimmune in a research report on Friday, February 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.83.

Altimmune Price Performance

Shares of ALT stock traded up $0.77 on Friday, hitting $5.97. 8,041,208 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,468,538. The stock has a market cap of $459.39 million, a P/E ratio of -3.85 and a beta of 0.87. Altimmune has a 12 month low of $5.14 and a 12 month high of $11.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $6.51 and a 200 day moving average of $7.12.

Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.33) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $0.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.00 million. Altimmune had a negative return on equity of 55.81% and a negative net margin of 199,076.92%. Sell-side analysts predict that Altimmune will post -1.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Altimmune news, CFO Gregory L. Weaver bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $5.20 per share, for a total transaction of $52,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,000. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altimmune

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALT. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Altimmune during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Altimmune in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Altimmune in the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altimmune in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Finally, 180 Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altimmune in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $78,000. 78.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.