Artivion (NYSE:AORT) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $26.53, but opened at $27.21. Artivion shares last traded at $27.55, with a volume of 34,778 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on AORT. JMP Securities started coverage on shares of Artivion in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Artivion in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Artivion from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Lake Street Capital boosted their target price on shares of Artivion from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Artivion from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Artivion currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.60.

Artivion Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 5.63 and a quick ratio of 4.04. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -110.92 and a beta of 1.74.

Artivion (NYSE:AORT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.04. Artivion had a positive return on equity of 3.81% and a negative net margin of 2.22%. The firm had revenue of $98.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $97.70 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Artivion, Inc. will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jean F. Holloway sold 3,167 shares of Artivion stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.55, for a total value of $84,083.85. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 161,932 shares in the company, valued at $4,299,294.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Amy Horton sold 12,430 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.18, for a total value of $325,417.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 139,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,664,912.02. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jean F. Holloway sold 3,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.55, for a total transaction of $84,083.85. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 161,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,299,294.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 37,109 shares of company stock worth $951,935. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Artivion

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Artivion by 182.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 28,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $762,000 after acquiring an additional 18,486 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Artivion in the 3rd quarter valued at about $450,000. Perceptive Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Artivion by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 2,793,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,658,000 after acquiring an additional 124,725 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Artivion by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 15,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Artivion in the 2nd quarter valued at $366,000. 86.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Artivion

Artivion, Inc manufactures, processes, and distributes medical devices and implantable human tissues worldwide. The company provides BioGlue, a polymer consisting of bovine blood protein and an agent for cross-linking proteins for cardiac, vascular, neurologic, and pulmonary procedures; cardiac preservation services; PhotoFix, a bovine pericardial patch; and aortic arch stent grafts including E-vita Open Plus and E-vita Open Neo.