Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) Trading Up 9.2% – Should You Buy?

Altimmune, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALT) shares were up 9.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $3.22 and last traded at $3.22. Approximately 1,880,626 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 4,360,463 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.95.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citizens Jmp dropped their price target on shares of Altimmune from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Altimmune from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Altimmune in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Altimmune in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Altimmune in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $10.00 price target on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.33.

Altimmune Trading Up 6.8%

The stock has a market capitalization of $612.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.04 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 26.78 and a current ratio of 26.78. The business has a 50-day moving average of $2.93 and a 200-day moving average of $3.31.

Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14) by $0.02. Altimmune had a negative return on equity of 31.41% and a negative net margin of 214,860.98%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altimmune, Inc. will post -0.58 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altimmune

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Arax Advisory Partners increased its holdings in shares of Altimmune by 99.7% in the 4th quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 8,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 4,076 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in Altimmune by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 8,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Altimmune during the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Altimmune during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Altimmune during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. 78.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.