Artivion (NYSE:AORT) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock from $45.00 to $50.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Artivion traded as high as $44.15 and last traded at $43.86, with a volume of 145215 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $43.14.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on AORT. Wall Street Zen cut Artivion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Artivion from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. JMP Securities increased their target price on Artivion from $33.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Artivion from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded Artivion from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $38.80 in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Artivion has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John E. Davis sold 10,802 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total transaction of $471,723.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 208,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,335.26. This represents a 4.92% 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 23,356 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.01, for a total value of $1,004,541.56. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 172,129 shares in the company, valued at $7,403,268.29. The trade was a 11.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,538 shares of company stock valued at $3,444,651 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Artivion

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Artivion by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $910,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Artivion by 47.7% in the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 538 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Artivion by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 20,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $504,000 after buying an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Artivion by 109.3% in the 1st quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Artivion by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 22,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,000 after buying an additional 727 shares in the last quarter. 86.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Artivion Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -106.70 and a beta of 1.64. The business has a fifty day moving average of $33.65 and a 200-day moving average of $28.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a current ratio of 4.78.

Artivion (NYSE:AORT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.13. Artivion had a positive return on equity of 5.70% and a negative net margin of 4.43%.The business had revenue of $112.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.96 million. Artivion’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Artivion has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Artivion, Inc. will post 0.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Artivion

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.