AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) Downgraded to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on ATRC. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of AtriCure from $50.00 to $42.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of AtriCure from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. JMP Securities reissued a market outperform rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of AtriCure in a research report on Wednesday, November 29th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of AtriCure from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $55.57.

AtriCure Trading Up 3.6 %

ATRC opened at $30.14 on Wednesday. AtriCure has a twelve month low of $27.92 and a twelve month high of $59.61. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 3.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $33.38 and a 200-day moving average of $36.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of -45.67 and a beta of 1.39.

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical device company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $106.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $103.68 million. AtriCure had a negative net margin of 7.62% and a negative return on equity of 7.55%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.09) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AtriCure will post -0.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AtriCure

In other news, insider Karl S. Dahlquist sold 8,231 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.36, for a total value of $307,510.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 52,839 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,974,065.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other AtriCure news, insider Justin J. Noznesky sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.72, for a total transaction of $55,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,727,708.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Karl S. Dahlquist sold 8,231 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.36, for a total transaction of $307,510.16. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 52,839 shares in the company, valued at $1,974,065.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,616 shares of company stock worth $423,212 over the last three months. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of AtriCure by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,865,409 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $188,171,000 after buying an additional 427,792 shares during the period. First Light Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of AtriCure by 35.8% in the 1st quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 1,364,812 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $89,627,000 after buying an additional 359,823 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AtriCure in the 4th quarter worth about $15,621,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of AtriCure by 41.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 981,165 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $48,430,000 after buying an additional 286,481 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of AtriCure by 366.4% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 342,987 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $16,930,000 after buying an additional 269,454 shares during the period. 99.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About AtriCure

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.