Altair Engineering (NASDAQ:ALTR) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s Why

Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTR) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 380,881 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 36% from the previous session’s volume of 592,099 shares.The stock last traded at $107.35 and had previously closed at $105.66.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALTR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research cut Altair Engineering from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Altair Engineering from $90.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Altair Engineering in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Altair Engineering in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Altair Engineering from $88.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altair Engineering presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.71.

Altair Engineering Trading Up 2.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $9.19 billion, a PE ratio of 284.22, a PEG ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $103.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.98. The company has a quick ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 3.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Insider Transactions at Altair Engineering

In other news, CRO Nelson Dias sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.23, for a total transaction of $2,390,175.00. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 48,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,145,462.51. This represents a 31.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ravi Kunju sold 360 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.65, for a total transaction of $37,314.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,305 shares in the company, valued at $3,141,113.25. This trade represents a 1.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 400,519 shares of company stock worth $40,076,873 over the last quarter. 21.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altair Engineering

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Altair Engineering by 1.2% during the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 8,500 shares of the software’s stock valued at $812,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Altair Engineering by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 10,219 shares of the software’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Altair Engineering by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,236 shares of the software’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Altair Engineering by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 13,961 shares of the software’s stock worth $1,333,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Altair Engineering by 52.2% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 636 shares of the software’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. 63.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altair Engineering Company Profile

Altair Engineering Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides software and cloud solutions in the areas of simulation and design, high-performance computing, data analytics, and artificial intelligence in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Software and Client Engineering Services.