Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 6,636,006 Shares of Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTR)

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its position in shares of Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTR) by 93.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 428,283 shares of the software’s stock after selling 6,636,006 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Altair Engineering were worth $40,901,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altair Engineering by 1.4% during the third quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,522,551 shares of the software’s stock valued at $240,929,000 after purchasing an additional 33,985 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Altair Engineering by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,053,957 shares of the software’s stock worth $196,173,000 after buying an additional 65,589 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Altair Engineering by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,423,880 shares of the software’s stock worth $136,020,000 after acquiring an additional 53,088 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Altair Engineering in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $91,589,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 312,448 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Christ Revocable Trust sold 100,000 shares of Altair Engineering stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.57, for a total transaction of $10,657,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Ralph Scapa sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.10, for a total transaction of $1,236,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 134,045 shares in the company, valued at $12,747,679.50. This represents a 8.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 400,519 shares of company stock worth $40,076,873 over the last quarter. 21.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Altair Engineering from $88.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wolfe Research cut Altair Engineering from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 3rd. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $113.00 price objective 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, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating and issued a $100.00 price target 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 issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.71.

Altair Engineering Stock Performance

Shares of Altair Engineering stock opened at $106.85 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $103.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.92. Altair Engineering Inc. has a one year low of $73.33 and a one year high of $113.12. 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 has a market capitalization of $9.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 281.18, a PEG ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 1.44.

About Altair Engineering

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.