Heartflow (NASDAQ:HTFL) Shares Down 15.8% – Should You Sell?

Heartflow, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTFL)’s stock price dropped 15.8% during trading on Friday. The company traded as low as $49.94 and last traded at $50.4750. Approximately 697,528 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 1,602,978 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.92.

Key Headlines Impacting Heartflow

These are some of the HTFL headlines that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 results beat expectations. HeartFlow reported revenue of $72.9 million, above the $65.2 million FactSet estimate, and a loss of $0.03 per share versus the consensus estimate of a $0.18 loss. The per-share loss also narrowed from $0.27 a year earlier. Zacks Q3 results article
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised targets and maintained bullish ratings. Stifel lifted its target to $70 with a buy rating; Canaccord raised its target to $69 with a buy rating; and Baird increased its target to $68 with an outperform rating. These revisions reflect greater potential upside in analysts’ views.
• Negative Sentiment: The CEO sold approximately $2.17 million of HeartFlow stock. Insider sales can weigh on sentiment, though the sale alone does not establish the executive’s reasons. Report on CEO stock sale

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Heartflow from $56.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Heartflow from $45.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Heartflow from $56.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Heartflow from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Heartflow in a research report on Friday, August 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.12.

Heartflow Trading Down 16.9%

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $51.93 and a 200-day moving average of $35.14. The company has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.17 and a beta of 2.50.

Heartflow (NASDAQ:HTFL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.15. Heartflow had a negative net margin of 55.82% and a negative return on equity of 23.52%. The company had revenue of $72.86 million for the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.27) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Heartflow, Inc. will post -0.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John Farquhar sold 38,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.74, for a total transaction of $2,168,286.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 251,983 shares in the company, valued at $14,045,532.42. This trade represents a 13.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Campbell Rogers sold 23,933 shares of Heartflow stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.01, for a total transaction of $1,316,554.33. Following the transaction, the insider owned 73,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,040,649.53. This trade represents a 24.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 332,403 shares of company stock worth $16,602,786 in the last three months. Company insiders own 7.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartflow

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTFL. XXEC Inc. bought a new stake in Heartflow during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,524,764,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Heartflow during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $152,502,000. Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new stake in Heartflow during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $94,625,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heartflow during the second quarter valued at approximately $70,983,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Heartflow by 152.0% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,180,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,063,000 after buying an additional 1,315,416 shares during the last quarter.

About Heartflow

HeartFlow, Inc. is a medical technology company that develops noninvasive tools to help clinicians assess coronary artery disease. Its platform analyzes coronary CT angiography scans to create personalized models of a patient’s coronary arteries and provide information that can support diagnosis and treatment planning. The company’s offerings include HeartFlow FFR CT Analysis, which estimates blood flow and the effects of artery narrowing, and tools for assessing coronary plaque. The technology combines medical imaging with computational analysis and artificial intelligence, giving clinicians information without requiring an invasive procedure to measure blood flow.