AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) Raised to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Sunday.

ATRC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Freedom Capital upgraded AtriCure to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of AtriCure from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AtriCure in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer cut shares of AtriCure from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered AtriCure from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AtriCure currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.43.

AtriCure Price Performance

NASDAQ ATRC opened at $29.07 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.39. 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 has a 12-month low of $27.31 and a 12-month high of $43.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -121.13 and a beta of 1.43.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AtriCure news, insider Vinayak Doraiswamy sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 96,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,889,781.25. This trade represents a 4.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AtriCure

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in AtriCure by 63.4% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 913,453 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $36,136,000 after buying an additional 354,281 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of AtriCure by 8.1% in the third 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 last quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of AtriCure by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 1,175,445 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $46,501,000 after purchasing an additional 285,083 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AtriCure by 36.2% in the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 836,916 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $29,501,000 after purchasing an additional 222,529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in AtriCure in the 4th quarter valued at $8,466,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.11% of the company’s stock.

About AtriCure

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.