Artivion (NYSE:AORT) Receives Market Outperform Rating from JMP Securities

Artivion (NYSE:AORT)‘s stock had its “market outperform” rating reiterated by research analysts at JMP Securities in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $33.00 price objective on the stock. JMP Securities’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 25.98% from the company’s current price.

AORT has been the subject of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Artivion from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Artivion in a report on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $31.40.

Artivion Stock Performance

AORT traded up $2.43 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $26.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 328,893 shares, compared to its average volume of 304,986. Artivion has a one year low of $20.98 and a one year high of $32.33. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of -1,296.25 and a beta of 1.54.

Artivion (NYSE:AORT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The company reported ($0.39) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.51). Artivion had a positive return on equity of 5.15% and a negative net margin of 0.22%. The company had revenue of $97.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $100.82 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Artivion will post 0.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Artivion

In related news, CEO James P. Mackin sold 42,156 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.31, for a total transaction of $1,151,280.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 663,882 shares in the company, valued at $18,130,617.42. This represents a 5.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jean F. Holloway sold 18,020 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.61, for a total transaction of $425,452.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 197,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,655,514.24. This represents a 8.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 90,799 shares of company stock valued at $2,356,223 in the last ninety days. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Artivion

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Artivion during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in Artivion by 109.3% in the first quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Artivion by 236.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Artivion in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI bought a new stake in Artivion in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.37% of the company’s stock.

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.