Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust Sells 230,096 Shares of AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC)

Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust decreased its holdings in shares of AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC - Free Report) by 92.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,408 shares of the medical device company's stock after selling 230,096 shares during the quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust's holdings in AtriCure were worth $593,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ATRC. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in AtriCure by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 56,843 shares of the medical device company's stock worth $1,569,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 lifted its position in shares of 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 bought a new stake in AtriCure during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $89,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AtriCure in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Institutional investors own 99.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of AtriCure from $51.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of AtriCure in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group cut their price target on AtriCure from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on AtriCure from $36.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on AtriCure from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at AtriCure

In related news, Director Karen Prange sold 6,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 owns 17,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $679,603.36. This represents a 25.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

AtriCure Price Performance

NASDAQ:ATRC traded down $0.88 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $29.15. The company had a trading volume of 192,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 652,814. The company has a quick ratio of 2.62, a current ratio of 3.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $33.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.77. AtriCure, Inc. has a one year low of $18.94 and a one year high of $43.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a PE ratio of -30.60 and a beta of 1.65.

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The medical device company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 9.61% and a negative return on equity of 6.80%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.28) EPS. Analysts forecast that AtriCure, Inc. will post -0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

AtriCure 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.