AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) Share Price Breaks Below Fifty Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC) shares passed below its fifty day moving average during trading on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $57.15 and traded as low as $54.74. AtriCure shares last traded at $56.26, with a volume of 838,143 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ATRC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on AtriCure from $36.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. UBS Group lowered shares of AtriCure from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $65.00 price target on shares of AtriCure in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of AtriCure from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of AtriCure from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AtriCure currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.80.

AtriCure Trading Down 2.6%

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 4.33 and a quick ratio of 3.29. The firm has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 187.54 and a beta of 1.23.

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The medical device company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.23. The business had revenue of $154.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $151.05 million. AtriCure had a return on equity of 4.01% and a net margin of 2.52%. As a group, research analysts expect that AtriCure, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AtriCure news, insider Salvatore Privitera sold 8,404 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $546,260.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 134,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,732,165. This trade represents a 5.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Karl S. Dahlquist sold 9,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.89, for a total value of $458,099.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 87,319 shares in the company, valued at $4,269,025.91. This represents a 9.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 39,026 shares of company stock valued at $2,172,263 in the last three months. 4.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AtriCure

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AtriCure during the second quarter worth approximately $125,198,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in AtriCure by 3.3% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,495,603 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $97,807,000 after acquiring an additional 113,048 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in AtriCure by 8.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 997,759 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $28,466,000 after acquiring an additional 75,862 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in AtriCure in the second quarter worth approximately $24,465,000. Finally, Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AtriCure in the second quarter worth approximately $16,435,000. 99.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AtriCure

AtriCure, Inc. is a medical technology company that develops and sells products for the treatment of atrial fibrillation and other conditions addressed through cardiac surgery. Its technologies are used by surgeons and other medical professionals in hospital settings. The company’s products include surgical ablation systems designed to treat irregular heart rhythms and devices for managing the left atrial appendage, a small pouch in the heart associated with stroke risk in some patients with atrial fibrillation.