Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT)

Altimmune, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALT) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders bought 14,727 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 63% compared to the typical daily volume of 9,026 call options.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jerome Benedict Durso bought 12,500 shares of Altimmune stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $4.13 per share, for a total transaction of $51,625.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $51,625. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John Gill bought 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.10 per share, with a total value of $51,250.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,250. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 30,527 shares of company stock worth $125,278. Corporate insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altimmune

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Altimmune by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,373,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,029,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206,514 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its stake in shares of Altimmune by 356.6% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,996,848 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,528,000 after purchasing an additional 1,559,562 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altimmune by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,934,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,489,000 after buying an additional 228,995 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altimmune by 387.7% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 915,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,543,000 after buying an additional 727,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Altimmune by 155.2% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 716,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,771,000 after buying an additional 435,467 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citizens Jmp dropped their target price on shares of Altimmune from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Altimmune in a report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Altimmune in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 price target on shares of Altimmune in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.60.

Altimmune Price Performance

Shares of ALT stock opened at $5.50 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $4.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.12. The stock has a market cap of $573.87 million, a PE ratio of -5.14 and a beta of 0.04. Altimmune has a 52-week low of $2.90 and a 52-week high of $7.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 17.18 and a current ratio of 17.18.

Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by $0.08. Altimmune had a negative return on equity of 54.79% and a negative net margin of 419,575.00%.The business 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 EPS for the current year.

About Altimmune

Altimmune, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, dedicated to the development of vaccines and immunotherapeutics. The company leverages proprietary technology platforms to create intranasal vaccine candidates and novel therapies targeting liver diseases and metabolic disorders. Altimmune’s approach emphasizes the stimulation of both systemic and mucosal immune responses to address unmet medical needs in infectious and chronic conditions.

Among its lead programs, NasoVAX is an investigational intranasal influenza vaccine designed to provide broad, long-lasting protection through a single, non-invasive dose.