AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Buy" Rating

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of AtriCure from $51.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of AtriCure from $66.00 to $52.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of AtriCure from $36.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group decreased their target price on AtriCure from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating on shares of AtriCure in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.67.

AtriCure Stock Performance

AtriCure stock traded down $0.10 on Friday, reaching $32.71. 330,069 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 650,988. The company has a current ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. AtriCure has a twelve month low of $18.94 and a twelve month high of $43.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $32.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.75. The stock has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of -34.43 and a beta of 1.57.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ATRC. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AtriCure by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 14,751 shares of the medical device company's stock valued at $414,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in AtriCure by 65.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,360 shares of the medical device company's stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in AtriCure during the 4th quarter valued at about $89,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AtriCure in the 4th quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, Calamos Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of AtriCure by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 110,671 shares of the medical device company's stock worth $3,382,000 after buying an additional 24,147 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.11% of the company's stock.

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.