Squarepoint Ops LLC Raises Holdings in Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTR)

Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTR) by 32.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 75,779 shares of the software’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,572 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Altair Engineering were worth $8,268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALTR. NBT Bank N A NY grew its position in Altair Engineering by 76.4% in the fourth quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 247 shares of the software’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Altair Engineering by 77.0% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 285 shares of the software’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Altair Engineering in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Altair Engineering by 185.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 825 shares of the software’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Altair Engineering during the fourth quarter worth $185,000. 63.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Amy Messano sold 235 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.53, for a total value of $26,209.55. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 23,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,637,796.03. This trade represents a 0.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew Charles Brown sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.53, for a total value of $425,040.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 69,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,739,512.82. The trade was a 5.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,172 shares of company stock worth $1,356,847. Corporate insiders own 21.75% of the company’s stock.

Altair Engineering Price Performance

NASDAQ:ALTR opened at $111.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 657.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.45. Altair Engineering Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.71 and a 52 week high of $113.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $111.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.81.

Altair Engineering (NASDAQ:ALTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The software reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $192.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.98 million. Altair Engineering had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 8.08%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Altair Engineering Inc. will post 0.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on ALTR shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Altair Engineering in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $113.00 price target on shares of Altair Engineering in a research note on Monday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.83.

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.