AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC) has received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $49.78.

ATRC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut AtriCure from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on AtriCure from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on AtriCure from $42.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on AtriCure from $57.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised AtriCure from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd.

AtriCure Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of ATRC opened at $22.77 on Friday. AtriCure has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $59.61. The company has a current ratio of 4.00, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.99. The stock has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a PE ratio of -28.46 and a beta of 1.42.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Salvatore Privitera bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $22.25 per share, with a total value of $111,250.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 103,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,298,202.50. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Justin J. Noznesky sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.39, for a total value of $45,585.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 72,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,211,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Salvatore Privitera purchased 5,000 shares of AtriCure 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 103,290 shares in the company, valued at $2,298,202.50. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its holdings in AtriCure by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 68,188 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $2,434,000 after acquiring an additional 16,168 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AtriCure by 165.8% during the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 123,540 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $4,409,000 after acquiring an additional 77,055 shares in the last quarter. Bridger Management LLC bought a new position in AtriCure during the fourth quarter worth about $3,109,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in AtriCure by 38.0% during the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 229,197 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $8,180,000 after acquiring an additional 63,079 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in AtriCure by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,329,457 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $47,448,000 after acquiring an additional 95,824 shares in the last quarter. 99.11% of the stock is currently owned by 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.