AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) Lowered to Buy Rating by Wall Street Zen

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of AtriCure in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Citizens Jmp reduced their price target on AtriCure from $60.00 to $52.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of AtriCure in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AtriCure in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut AtriCure from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $36.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.43.

AtriCure Price Performance

NASDAQ:ATRC opened at $28.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a PE ratio of -120.33 and a beta of 1.42. AtriCure has a 1-year low of $28.29 and a 1-year high of $43.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.64. The company has a current ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The medical device company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $140.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.50 million. AtriCure had a negative net margin of 2.14% and a negative return on equity of 1.15%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.33) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that AtriCure will post -0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AtriCure

In other AtriCure news, insider Vinayak Doraiswamy sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $149,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 96,875 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,781.25. This represents a 4.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AtriCure

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AtriCure by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,903,755 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $193,993,000 after buying an additional 62,861 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in AtriCure by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,292,087 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $151,296,000 after acquiring an additional 322,818 shares during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AtriCure by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 3,061,059 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $100,311,000 after acquiring an additional 61,852 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its holdings in AtriCure by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,189,739 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $38,969,000 after acquiring an additional 3,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Light Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AtriCure by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 1,175,445 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $46,501,000 after acquiring an additional 285,083 shares during the period. 99.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.