AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) Price Target Cut to $40.00

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) had its price target cut by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $46.00 to $40.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the medical device company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 91.48% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on ATRC. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on AtriCure from $50.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on AtriCure from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of AtriCure from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of AtriCure from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AtriCure has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.78.

AtriCure Price Performance

ATRC traded down $1.33 during trading on Thursday, hitting $20.89. The stock had a trading volume of 961,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 881,737. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 3.57. AtriCure has a twelve month low of $20.19 and a twelve month high of $59.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $28.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.13.

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The medical device company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.02). The firm 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 7.82%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.23) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AtriCure will post -0.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AtriCure

In related news, insider Justin J. Noznesky sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.09, for a total value of $36,135.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,717,231.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Justin J. Noznesky sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.09, for a total value of $36,135.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 71,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,717,231.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Karl S. Dahlquist sold 1,885 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total value of $60,621.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 50,954 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,638,680.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,616 shares of company stock valued at $504,932 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AtriCure during the fourth quarter worth $9,254,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in AtriCure by 39.2% in the 3rd quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 904,835 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $39,632,000 after buying an additional 254,655 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 200,799 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its position in shares of AtriCure by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 881,826 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $31,472,000 after acquiring an additional 193,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in AtriCure by 71.6% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 444,801 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $13,531,000 after purchasing an additional 185,632 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.11% 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.