Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 25,234 Shares of Artivion, Inc. $AORT

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Artivion, Inc. by 17.5% in Q1, acquiring an additional 25,234 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 0.40% of the company, valued at $4.17 million.
• Institutional investors now hold 86.37% of Artivion's stock, with other significant recent purchases by various firms totaling over $20 million this quarter.
• Artivion reported a Q2 earnings per share of $0.24, exceeding expectations and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 15.3%, with current analyst consensus rating remaining a strong "Buy".

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT - Free Report) by 17.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 169,594 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 25,234 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.40% of Artivion worth $4,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Peregrine Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Artivion in the first quarter worth about $7,650,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Artivion in the fourth quarter worth about $5,573,000. First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new position in Artivion in the fourth quarter worth about $4,771,000. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Artivion in the first quarter worth about $3,261,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Artivion in the first quarter worth about $3,162,000. 86.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James P. Mackin sold 12,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.32, for a total transaction of $529,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 852,783 shares in the company, valued at $36,089,776.56. This represents a 1.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John E. Davis sold 10,802 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $9,117,335.26. This trade represents a 4.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 96,538 shares of company stock worth $3,444,651. Insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AORT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Artivion from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Artivion from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Artivion from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Artivion in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised Artivion to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One equities research 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $40.63.

Artivion Stock Up 3.9%

Shares of AORT opened at $44.8140 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -106.70 and a beta of 1.64. Artivion, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.97 and a 1 year high of $45.07. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $33.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 4.78 and a quick ratio of 3.48.

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

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.