Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Altimmune, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALT) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $6.18, but opened at $5.93. Altimmune shares last traded at $5.6750, with a volume of 4,605,667 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ALT. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Altimmune in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 price target on shares of Altimmune in a report on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Altimmune in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Altimmune in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Citizens Jmp dropped their target price on Altimmune from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.17.

Altimmune Trading Up 9.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 17.18 and a quick ratio of 17.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $4.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.15. The stock has a market cap of $584.30 million, a PE ratio of -5.23 and a beta of 0.04.

Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.29) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $0.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.00 million. Altimmune had a negative net margin of 419,575.00% and a negative return on equity of 54.79%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Altimmune, Inc. will post -1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jerome Benedict Durso bought 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was acquired 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $51,625. This represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John Gill purchased 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was acquired 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 in the company, valued at approximately $51,250. This trade represents a ? increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders purchased 30,527 shares of company stock valued at $125,278 in the last quarter. 4.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altimmune

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

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.