Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 600 Shares of Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,707 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.05% of Artivion worth $621,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Artivion by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Artivion by 236.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Artivion by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 41,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Artivion by 80.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Artivion in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.37% of the company’s stock.

Artivion Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AORT opened at $23.03 on Thursday. Artivion, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.36 and a 12 month high of $32.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $983.13 million, a P/E ratio of -1,151.50 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a 50 day moving average of $25.34 and a 200 day moving average of $27.41.

Artivion (NYSE:AORT) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The company reported ($0.39) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $97.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $100.82 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Artivion, Inc. will post 0.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AORT. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Artivion from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Artivion from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Artivion presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.40.

Insider Transactions at Artivion

In other Artivion news, CFO Lance A. Berry sold 3,259 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.31, for a total transaction of $89,003.29. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,070,234.55. The trade was a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jean F. Holloway sold 5,335 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.31, for a total transaction of $145,698.85. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 149,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,091,010.69. This trade represents a 3.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 90,799 shares of company stock worth $2,356,223. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Artivion Profile

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.