Needham Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTR)

Needham Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTR) by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 231,500 shares of the software’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,500 shares during the period. Altair Engineering makes up 1.7% of Needham Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Needham Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Altair Engineering were worth $22,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Altair Engineering during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $91,589,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Altair Engineering by 121.7% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 569,109 shares of the software’s stock valued at $55,818,000 after purchasing an additional 312,448 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Altair Engineering by 772.7% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 212,560 shares of the software’s stock valued at $20,848,000 after purchasing an additional 188,203 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altair Engineering in the 2nd quarter worth $13,343,000. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. grew its stake in shares of Altair Engineering by 28.9% in the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 560,565 shares of the software’s stock worth $54,978,000 after buying an additional 125,816 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Altair Engineering Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of ALTR traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $105.70. The company had a trading volume of 109,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 585,556. Altair Engineering Inc. has a one year low of $70.07 and a one year high of $113.12. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $100.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.60. The company has a market capitalization of $8.99 billion, a PE ratio of 278.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.14 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 3.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James Ralph Scapa sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.69, for a total value of $1,373,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 134,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,167,216.05. This trade represents a 8.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Christ Revocable Trust sold 50,048 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.07, for a total value of $4,758,063.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 361,924 shares of company stock worth $35,986,262. 21.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Altair Engineering 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.