AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) Shares Up 4.7%

Shares of AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC) were up 4.7% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $22.28 and last traded at $22.27. Approximately 317,959 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 723,859 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.28.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer upgraded AtriCure from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of AtriCure from $42.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on shares of AtriCure from $57.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of AtriCure from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded AtriCure from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AtriCure presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.78.

AtriCure Price Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 4.00.

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The medical device company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $108.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.86 million. AtriCure had a negative net margin of 8.98% and a negative return on equity of 7.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.23) earnings per share. Analysts expect that AtriCure, Inc. will post -0.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Salvatore Privitera acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $22.25 per share, for a total transaction of $111,250.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 103,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,298,202.50. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Salvatore Privitera purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $22.25 per share, for a total transaction of $111,250.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 103,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,298,202.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Justin J. Noznesky sold 1,500 shares of AtriCure stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.09, for a total transaction of $36,135.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 71,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,717,231.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AtriCure

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its position in AtriCure by 27.3% during the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,681,000 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $81,556,000 after acquiring an additional 575,605 shares during the last quarter. Natixis bought a new stake in AtriCure in the 1st quarter worth $9,126,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AtriCure during the fourth quarter valued at about $9,254,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AtriCure by 39.2% in the third quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 904,835 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $39,632,000 after purchasing an additional 254,655 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in AtriCure by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 720,677 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $21,923,000 after purchasing an additional 200,799 shares during the period. 99.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AtriCure Company Profile

AtriCure, Inc develops, manufactures, and sells devices for surgical ablation of cardiac tissue, exclusion of the left atrial appendage, and temporarily blocking pain by ablating peripheral nerves to medical centers in the United States, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company offers Isolator Synergy Clamps, single-use disposable radio frequency products; multifunctional pens and linear ablation devices, such as the MAX Pen device that enables surgeons to evaluate cardiac arrhythmias, perform temporary cardiac pacing, sensing, and stimulation, and ablate cardiac tissue with the same device; and the Coolrail device, which enables users to make longer linear lines of ablation.