State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Boosts Stock Holdings in AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in shares of AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC) by 31.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 68,188 shares of the medical device company’s stock after buying an additional 16,168 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in AtriCure were worth $2,434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATRC. Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AtriCure by 0.6% during the third quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 57,223 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $2,506,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in AtriCure by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,839 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $519,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of AtriCure by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 21,237 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $758,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of AtriCure by 31.5% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,074 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 497 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AtriCure by 0.7% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 81,300 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $3,561,000 after buying an additional 593 shares during the last quarter. 99.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ATRC. UBS Group raised their target price on AtriCure from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com downgraded AtriCure from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of AtriCure in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of AtriCure from $50.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of AtriCure from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.63.

AtriCure Price Performance

NASDAQ:ATRC opened at $24.76 on Thursday. AtriCure, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.07 and a 1-year high of $59.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 3.57 and a quick ratio of 2.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $29.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.32. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.52 and a beta of 1.38.

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The medical device company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 7.55% and a negative net margin of 7.62%. The business’s revenue was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.09) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that AtriCure, Inc. will post -0.71 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Karl S. Dahlquist sold 8,231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.36, for a total value of $307,510.16. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 52,839 shares in the company, valued at $1,974,065.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Justin J. Noznesky sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.39, for a total transaction of $45,585.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 72,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,211,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Karl S. Dahlquist sold 8,231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.36, for a total transaction of $307,510.16. Following the completion of 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 13,116 shares of company stock worth $468,797. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.