Needham & Company LLC Reiterates “Buy” Rating for AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC)

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $40.00 target price on the medical device company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 79.86% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on ATRC. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of AtriCure from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on AtriCure from $42.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on AtriCure from $57.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded AtriCure from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.78.

AtriCure Stock Performance

Shares of ATRC opened at $22.24 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of -27.80 and a beta of 1.44. AtriCure has a 52-week low of $18.94 and a 52-week high of $59.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.29. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 4.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AtriCure

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of AtriCure by 27.3% in the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,681,000 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $81,556,000 after acquiring an additional 575,605 shares during the period. Natixis acquired a new stake in AtriCure in the 1st quarter valued at $9,126,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in AtriCure in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,254,000. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of AtriCure by 38.6% during the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 720,677 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $21,923,000 after purchasing an additional 200,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp boosted its position in shares of AtriCure by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 881,826 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $31,472,000 after buying an additional 193,769 shares during the period. 99.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AtriCure Company Profile

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.