Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) Given Buy Rating at HC Wainwright

Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by equities research analysts at HC Wainwright in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $12.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright's price objective points to a potential upside of 41.84% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI upgraded Altimmune to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Altimmune in a report on Tuesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. Finally, B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Altimmune in a report on Monday, August 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $20.00.

Altimmune Trading Down 11.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ ALT traded down $1.06 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $8.46. 5,123,245 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,864,789. The stock has a market capitalization of $601.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.73 and a beta of 0.09. The company's 50 day moving average price is $6.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $6.89. Altimmune has a 12 month low of $2.34 and a 12 month high of $14.84.

Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.35) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $0.01 million for the quarter. Altimmune had a negative return on equity of 52.60% and a negative net margin of 199,076.92%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.39) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Altimmune will post -0.54 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Drutz sold 16,011 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.90, for a total value of $110,475.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,958 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $289,510.20. The trade was a 27.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALT. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Altimmune by 1,282.4% during the 1st quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 470,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,785,000 after buying an additional 436,000 shares in the last quarter. Knoll Capital Management LLC increased its position in Altimmune by 183.6% during the 1st quarter. Knoll Capital Management LLC now owns 567,219 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,774,000 after buying an additional 367,219 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Altimmune by 142.9% in the second 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. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altimmune by 542.8% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 254,571 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,693,000 after purchasing an additional 214,968 shares during the period. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Altimmune in the second quarter valued at about $860,000. 78.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.