Northern Trust Corp Increases Stock Position in Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT)

Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT - Free Report) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 463,250 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 42,170 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.11% of Artivion worth $13,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AORT. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Artivion by 346.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 70,877 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,888,000 after buying an additional 54,996 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Artivion by 14.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 21,107 shares of the company's stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 2,663 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Artivion by 394.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 97,903 shares of the company's stock worth $2,606,000 after buying an additional 78,120 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew 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 during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Artivion in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AORT. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Artivion to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Artivion from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Artivion in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Artivion in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $31.40.

Insider Transactions at Artivion

In other Artivion news, CEO James P. Mackin sold 42,156 shares of Artivion stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.31, for a total value of $1,151,280.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 663,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,130,617.42. The trade was a 5.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jean F. Holloway sold 5,335 shares of Artivion stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.31, for a total transaction of $145,698.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 149,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,091,010.69. This 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 101,347 shares of company stock valued at $2,663,486. Insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

Artivion Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:AORT traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $29.61. 476,119 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 322,806. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1,480.50 and a beta of 1.54. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $24.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.31. Artivion, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.97 and a 1 year high of $32.33.

Artivion (NYSE:AORT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.06). Artivion had a negative net margin of 0.22% and a positive return on equity of 5.15%. The business had revenue of $98.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.81 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Artivion, Inc. will post 0.37 EPS for the current year.

Artivion Company 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.