Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Artivion, Inc. $AORT

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Artivion, Inc. by 5.0%, making it the owner of approximately 0.88% of the company, worth about $9.24 million.
• Insider selling activity includes SVP Marshall S. Stanton selling 26,132 shares for over $743,000, reducing their position by 24.81%.
• Artivion's stock received multiple upgrades from analysts, with target prices raised and an average rating of "Buy", reflecting positive expectations following a reported 15.3% increase in revenue compared to the prior year.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT - Free Report) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 376,052 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,860 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.88% of Artivion worth $9,243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Artivion by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 165,482 shares of the company's stock worth $4,731,000 after purchasing an additional 33,220 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Artivion by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 20,519 shares of the company's stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 611 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Artivion by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 206,777 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,083,000 after buying an additional 4,749 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Artivion by 45.1% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 36,982 shares of the company's stock worth $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 11,501 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Artivion by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 22,559 shares of the company's stock valued at $645,000 after buying an additional 727 shares during the period. 86.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Artivion

In related news, insider John E. Davis sold 10,802 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total value of $471,723.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 208,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,117,335.26. This trade represents a 4.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Jean F. Holloway sold 23,356 shares of Artivion stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.01, for a total value of $1,004,541.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 172,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,403,268.29. This represents a 11.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 115,990 shares of company stock worth $4,435,823 in the last three months. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AORT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Artivion from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Artivion from $33.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Artivion to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Artivion from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Artivion in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Artivion presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $40.63.

Artivion Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of AORT traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $43.87. 342,981 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 627,565. The company has a current ratio of 4.78, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Artivion, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.97 and a 1-year high of $45.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $35.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.32. The company has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -104.45 and a beta of 1.64.

Artivion (NYSE:AORT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $112.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.96 million. Artivion had a positive return on equity of 5.70% and a negative net margin of 4.43%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Artivion has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts expect that Artivion, Inc. will post 0.37 earnings per share 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.