AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,250,000 shares, an increase of 9.4% from the March 15th total of 2,970,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 668,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.9 days.

AtriCure Stock Up 1.4 %

ATRC traded up $0.32 on Tuesday, hitting $23.22. 463,641 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 666,461. AtriCure has a 12 month low of $22.42 and a 12 month high of $59.61. The company has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of -34.61 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 3.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $31.80 and its 200-day moving average is $34.87.

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical device company reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.01. AtriCure had a negative return on equity of 7.55% and a negative net margin of 7.62%. The business had revenue of $106.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $103.68 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.09) earnings per share. AtriCure’s revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that AtriCure will post -0.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AtriCure

In other news, insider Justin J. Noznesky sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,211,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Justin J. Noznesky sold 1,500 shares of AtriCure stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was 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 directly owns 72,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,211,905.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Karl S. Dahlquist sold 8,231 shares of AtriCure stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 52,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,974,065.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,116 shares of company stock worth $468,797 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AtriCure

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. RiverPark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AtriCure in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI bought a new stake in AtriCure in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC bought a new stake in AtriCure in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. State of Wyoming raised its stake in AtriCure by 34.6% in the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,030 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Finally, Almanack Investment Partners LLC. bought a new stake in AtriCure in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors own 99.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on ATRC. Stifel Nicolaus decreased 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 boosted their target price on AtriCure from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of AtriCure in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut AtriCure from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AtriCure has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.57.

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.