Altimmune Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:ALT)

Altimmune, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Traders bought 25,356 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 199% compared to the typical daily volume of 8,475 call options.

Altimmune Trading Down 5.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ ALT traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $5.66. 1,701,927 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,609,032. Altimmune has a 1 year low of $5.14 and a 1 year high of $11.16. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.11. The stock has a market cap of $436.21 million, a P/E ratio of -3.65 and a beta of 0.87.

Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.34) by $0.01. Altimmune had a negative return on equity of 55.81% and a negative net margin of 199,076.92%. The firm had revenue of $0.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.00 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Altimmune will post -1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Altimmune

In other Altimmune news, CFO Gregory L. Weaver bought 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $5.20 per share, with a total value of $52,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $52,000. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altimmune

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Altimmune by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 157,528 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,787 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Altimmune by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 157,750 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,137,000 after purchasing an additional 1,964 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Altimmune by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,940 shares of the company's stock valued at $742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Altimmune by 12.9% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 23,454 shares of the company's stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,687 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Altimmune by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 44,474 shares of the company's stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 2,897 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.05% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on ALT shares. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Altimmune in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Altimmune in a report on Friday. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Altimmune in a report on Tuesday. Two 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altimmune has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $20.83.

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.