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

AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,300,000 shares, a drop of 6.5% from the May 31st total of 3,530,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 796,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at AtriCure

In other news, insider Salvatore Privitera acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $22.25 per share, for a total transaction of $111,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 103,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,298,202.50. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Justin J. Noznesky sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.09, for a total value of $36,135.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,717,231.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Salvatore Privitera purchased 5,000 shares of AtriCure stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $22.25 per share, for a total transaction of $111,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 103,290 shares in the company, valued at $2,298,202.50. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AtriCure

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in AtriCure by 31.1% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 68,188 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $2,434,000 after buying an additional 16,168 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of AtriCure by 165.8% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 123,540 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $4,409,000 after purchasing an additional 77,055 shares during the last quarter. Bridger Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AtriCure in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,109,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its position in AtriCure by 38.0% during the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 229,197 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $8,180,000 after buying an additional 63,079 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in AtriCure by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,329,457 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $47,448,000 after buying an additional 95,824 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on AtriCure from $57.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on AtriCure from $42.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com cut AtriCure from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on AtriCure from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised AtriCure from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.78.

AtriCure Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of AtriCure stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $22.45. The stock had a trading volume of 408,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 740,525. AtriCure has a 52 week low of $18.94 and a 52 week high of $59.61. The company has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.06 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 4.00, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $22.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.71.

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The medical device company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.02). AtriCure had a negative return on equity of 7.85% and a negative net margin of 8.98%. The company had revenue of $108.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.86 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.23) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that AtriCure will post -0.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.