Artivion (NYSE:AORT) Reaches New 1-Year High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Artivion (NYSE:AORT) reached a new 52-week high of $33.39, closing at $32.71 with a trading volume of 76,095 shares.
• Analysts have mostly rated Artivion as a "buy" or "strong-buy," with a consensus rating pointing to an average target price of $32.40.
• The company reported earnings of $0.06 per share in its latest quarterly earnings, missing the expected $0.12, yet achieved revenue of $98.98 million, surpassing the estimated $94.81 million.

Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $33.39 and last traded at $32.71, with a volume of 76095 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $32.15.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Artivion from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Citizens Jmp raised Artivion to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Artivion from $33.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Artivion from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Artivion from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $40.00.

Artivion Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 4.78, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -97.36 and a beta of 1.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $30.78 and a 200-day moving average of $27.98.

Artivion (NYSE:AORT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $112.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.96 million. Artivion's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Artivion, Inc. will post 0.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Artivion news, SVP Marshall S. Stanton sold 15,000 shares of Artivion stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.50, for a total transaction of $442,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 64,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,893,900. The trade was a 18.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jean F. Holloway sold 8,748 shares of Artivion stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total value of $253,692.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 178,510 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,176,790. This trade represents a 4.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 62,406 shares of company stock valued at $1,801,262. Insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Artivion

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AORT. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Artivion by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 19,623 shares of the company's stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Artivion by 64.2% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 160,796 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,597,000 after acquiring an additional 62,893 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Artivion in the 4th quarter valued at $288,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Artivion by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 21,707 shares of the company's stock valued at $621,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in shares of Artivion by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 34,823 shares of the company's stock valued at $996,000 after acquiring an additional 6,299 shares during the period. 86.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.