AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Saturday.

ATRC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of AtriCure from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer cut AtriCure from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AtriCure in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AtriCure in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded AtriCure from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.43.

AtriCure Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of AtriCure stock opened at $32.58 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -135.75 and a beta of 1.41. AtriCure has a twelve month low of $28.29 and a twelve month high of $43.18. The company has a current ratio of 3.87, a quick ratio of 2.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.70.

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The medical device company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.10. AtriCure had a negative return on equity of 1.17% and a negative net margin of 2.14%.The business had revenue of $140.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.33) earnings per share. AtriCure’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that AtriCure will post -0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AtriCure news, Director Sven Wehrwein sold 4,967 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total transaction of $188,746.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 34,374 shares in the company, valued at $1,306,212. This trade represents a 12.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Justin J. Noznesky sold 5,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.29, for a total value of $192,640.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 78,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,938,377.42. This represents a 6.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 15,166 shares of company stock valued at $569,218 over the last quarter. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ATRC. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its stake in AtriCure by 197.1% in the 3rd quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 811 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in AtriCure during the second quarter worth $37,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AtriCure by 1,818.6% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,132 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of AtriCure in the third quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in AtriCure by 59.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,146 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.11% of the company’s stock.

AtriCure Company Profile

AtriCure, Inc is a medical device company focused on the development, manufacture and marketing of innovative therapies to treat atrial fibrillation (AF) and related conditions. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Mason, Ohio, AtriCure has established itself as a leader in surgical ablation devices designed to interrupt the errant electrical pathways that cause AF. The company’s solutions are used by cardiac surgeons and electrophysiologists to reduce the risk of stroke and improve patient outcomes in the treatment of both paroxysmal and persistent AF.

The company’s product portfolio centers on its Synergy Surgical Ablation System, which delivers controlled radiofrequency energy in a minimally invasive format, and the cryoICE Cryoablation System, which offers an alternative ablation modality using precise freezing techniques.