Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTR) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTR) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,800,000 shares, a growth of 13.4% from the December 15th total of 3,350,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,020,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Altair Engineering Stock Performance

Shares of ALTR opened at $110.41 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 3.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $9.39 billion, a PE ratio of 290.56, a P/E/G ratio of 11.34 and a beta of 1.42. Altair Engineering has a 12 month low of $75.71 and a 12 month high of $113.12. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $107.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Teresa A. Harris sold 620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.10, for a total value of $64,542.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,211,292.20. The trade was a 2.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Christ Revocable Trust sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.57, for a total value of $10,657,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 181,447 shares of company stock valued at $19,214,933. Insiders own 21.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altair Engineering

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Altair Engineering by 572.1% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 289 shares of the software’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Altair Engineering by 77.0% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 285 shares of the software’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Altair Engineering by 52.2% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 636 shares of the software’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Altair Engineering by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,358 shares of the software’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in Altair Engineering by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,640 shares of the software’s stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALTR has been the topic of several research reports. Loop Capital restated a “hold” rating and set a $113.00 price target on shares of Altair Engineering in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Altair Engineering from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Altair Engineering from $90.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Altair Engineering in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Altair Engineering in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altair Engineering presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.71.

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.