Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) Stock: Insider Jerome Benedict Durso Acquires 30,700 Shares

Altimmune, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALT) CEO Jerome Durso bought 30,700 shares of Altimmune stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $1.62 per share, for a total transaction of $49,734.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 93,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,984. This trade represents a 49.12% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Altimmune Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of Altimmune stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $1.65. The stock had a trading volume of 3,528,857 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,885,901. Altimmune, Inc. has a 12 month low of $1.58 and a 12 month high of $6.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 26.78 and a quick ratio of 26.78. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.15. The stock has a market cap of $319.99 million, a PE ratio of -2.28 and a beta of 0.16.

Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.15) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.02). As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Altimmune, Inc. will post -0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ALT. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Altimmune in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Altimmune in a report on Monday, September 21st. Wall Street Zen cut Altimmune from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Altimmune in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Altimmune in a research note on Friday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.33.

Key Altimmune News

Investors following ALT have been watching these news items:

• Neutral Sentiment: B. Riley reaffirmed its Buy rating, providing supportive analyst sentiment, although the rating is not a guarantee of future performance.
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter loss per share was $0.15, wider than the $0.13 loss analysts expected. Higher research and development spending contributed to the miss, and commentary has raised concerns about the company’s capital needs despite its current cash runway. Earnings analysis
• Negative Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha analysis characterized pemvidutide’s development as late and capital-intensive, underscoring the risk that lengthy trials and spending could weigh on ALT before any potential product revenue. Analysis

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altimmune

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALT. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Altimmune by 268.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,045,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,221,000 after purchasing an additional 762,223 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Altimmune during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,097,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altimmune by 156.5% during the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 518,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 316,209 shares in the last quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altimmune by 14.7% during the third quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 1,720,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,919,000 after purchasing an additional 220,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Altimmune by 48.6% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 570,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,756,000 after buying an additional 186,420 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.05% of the company’s stock.

About Altimmune

Altimmune, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing peptide-based treatments for obesity and liver diseases. The company is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Its lead candidate, pemvidutide, is an investigational medicine that activates GLP-1 and glucagon receptors. Altimmune has studied the drug for obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), a serious form of fatty liver disease. Altimmune’s work focuses on advancing treatments through clinical development; pemvidutide is not an approved medicine.