AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $60.00 to $58.00. The stock had previously closed at $34.65, but opened at $31.18. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. AtriCure shares last traded at $29.03, with a volume of 199,287 shares.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on AtriCure from $66.00 to $52.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on AtriCure from $36.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on AtriCure from $51.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating on shares of AtriCure in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on AtriCure from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.67.

Insider Activity at AtriCure

In other AtriCure news, Director Karen Prange sold 6,100 shares of AtriCure stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.12, for a total value of $232,532.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,828 shares in the company, valued at $679,603.36. The trade was a 25.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AtriCure

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in AtriCure in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $19,139,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of AtriCure in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,168,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AtriCure by 29.8% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 752,580 shares of the medical device company's stock valued at $22,999,000 after purchasing an additional 172,648 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in AtriCure by 37.1% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 619,166 shares of the medical device company's stock worth $18,922,000 after acquiring an additional 167,476 shares during the period. Finally, Oberweis Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AtriCure during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,630,000. 99.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AtriCure Trading Down 3.2 %

The company has a current ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a PE ratio of -30.60 and a beta of 1.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $33.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.77.

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The medical device company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.25) by $0.11. The company had revenue of $123.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $122.92 million. AtriCure had a negative net margin of 9.61% and a negative return on equity of 6.80%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.28) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that AtriCure, Inc. will post -0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

About AtriCure

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.