D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Altimmune, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALT)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Altimmune, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALT - Free Report) by 39.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 459,833 shares of the company's stock after selling 298,171 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned 0.65% of Altimmune worth $3,315,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altimmune by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,254,898 shares of the company's stock worth $37,888,000 after buying an additional 1,378,854 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Altimmune by 679.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 247,086 shares of the company's stock worth $1,781,000 after buying an additional 215,375 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in shares of Altimmune by 69.3% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 215,538 shares of the company's stock worth $1,554,000 after buying an additional 88,209 shares during the last quarter. Bellevue Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Altimmune by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 945,446 shares of the company's stock worth $6,817,000 after buying an additional 81,786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Altimmune in the 4th quarter worth about $472,000. 78.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altimmune Price Performance

Shares of ALT traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $5.71. 1,651,677 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,823,093. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $5.11 and a 200-day moving average of $6.52. Altimmune, Inc. has a one year low of $3.55 and a one year high of $11.16. The firm has a market cap of $463.12 million, a P/E ratio of -3.68 and a beta of 1.13.

Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.35) by $0.09. Altimmune had a negative net margin of 199,076.92% and a negative return on equity of 55.81%. The company had revenue of $0.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $0.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.34) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Altimmune, Inc. will post -1.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ALT shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Altimmune from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. William Blair reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Altimmune in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Altimmune in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $20.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Altimmune

In related news, CFO Gregory L. Weaver acquired 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $5.20 per share, with a total value of $52,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $52,000. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

About Altimmune

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.