Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

Shares of Altimmune, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALT - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $7.31, but opened at $7.54. Altimmune shares last traded at $7.42, with a volume of 484,517 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ALT shares. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $12.00 target price on shares of Altimmune in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Altimmune in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Altimmune in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altimmune has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $19.71.

Altimmune Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $529.88 million, a PE ratio of -4.81 and a beta of 0.22. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $8.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.20.

Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.35) by $0.03. Altimmune had a negative net margin of 199,076.92% and a negative return on equity of 55.81%. The company had revenue of $0.01 million for the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.39) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Altimmune, Inc. will post -1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Altimmune by 28.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 243,808 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,621,000 after purchasing an additional 54,154 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Altimmune by 190.7% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 14,688 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 9,635 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Altimmune during the second quarter worth about $70,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Altimmune by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 87,110 shares of the company's stock worth $579,000 after acquiring an additional 7,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Altimmune by 25.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 107,446 shares of the company's stock valued at $715,000 after acquiring an additional 22,034 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.05% of the company's stock.

Altimmune Company Profile

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.