Invesco Ltd. Acquires 74,589 Shares of Artivion, Inc. $AORT

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Artivion, Inc. by 27.9%, now holding approximately $8.40 million worth of shares.
• Insider transactions were notable, with SVP Marshall S. Stanton and CEO James P. Mackin both selling shares, reducing their ownership percentages.
• Recent analyst reports have been largely positive, with upgrades to Artivion’s stock rating and target prices, reflecting an overall consensus rating of “Buy”.

Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT - Free Report) by 27.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 341,656 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 74,589 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.80% of Artivion worth $8,398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Artivion by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 376,052 shares of the company's stock worth $9,243,000 after buying an additional 17,860 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Artivion by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 12,615 shares of the company's stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,777 shares during the last quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Artivion during the 1st quarter worth about $3,261,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Artivion by 18.9% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 14,358 shares of the company's stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Artivion by 109.3% during the 1st quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,176 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Artivion news, SVP Jean F. Holloway sold 23,356 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 172,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,403,268.29. This trade represents a 11.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Marshall S. Stanton sold 26,132 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.44, for a total transaction of $743,194.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 79,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,252,448. This represents a 24.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 115,990 shares of company stock valued at $4,435,823 in the last 90 days. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Artivion Stock Performance

AORT stock traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $43.87. 342,981 shares of the stock 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 12 month low of $21.97 and a 12 month high of $45.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -104.45 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.32.

Artivion (NYSE:AORT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $112.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.96 million. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Artivion has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Artivion, Inc. will post 0.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on AORT. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Artivion from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Artivion in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Artivion from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Artivion from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded Artivion from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $38.80 in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Artivion has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $40.63.

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.