Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTR) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTR) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,150,000 shares, a drop of 29.7% from the October 31st total of 4,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 830,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Insider Transactions at Altair Engineering

In related news, Director Teresa A. Harris sold 620 shares of Altair Engineering stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.70, for a total transaction of $55,614.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,905,407.40. This trade represents a 2.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Christ Revocable Trust sold 50,048 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.07, for a total transaction of $4,758,063.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 149,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,255,936.64. This trade represents a 25.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 343,044 shares of company stock valued at $33,980,921 over the last quarter. 21.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altair Engineering

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALTR. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Altair Engineering by 572.1% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 289 shares of the software’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altair Engineering by 81.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 418 shares of the software’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altair Engineering by 41.3% during the 2nd quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 832 shares of the software’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Altair Engineering by 41.7% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,057 shares of the software’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in Altair Engineering by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,640 shares of the software’s stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.38% of the company’s stock.

Altair Engineering Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Altair Engineering stock traded up $0.19 on Friday, reaching $105.61. The company had a trading volume of 285,644 shares, compared to its average volume of 587,791. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 3.27 and a quick ratio of 3.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $100.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.38. The firm has a market cap of $8.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 278.30, a P/E/G ratio of 12.12 and a beta of 1.44. Altair Engineering has a 1 year low of $70.07 and a 1 year high of $113.12.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALTR has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Altair Engineering from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $85.00 to $71.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Altair Engineering from $90.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Altair Engineering in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wolfe Research downgraded Altair Engineering from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $113.00 price objective on shares of Altair Engineering in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.