AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) Sets New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low on Thursday after Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on the stock from $57.00 to $49.00. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. AtriCure traded as low as $20.19 and last traded at $21.03, with a volume of 331213 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $24.76.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on ATRC. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on AtriCure from $50.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com lowered AtriCure from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on AtriCure from $42.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their target price on AtriCure from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded AtriCure from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $32.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $49.78.

Insider Transactions at AtriCure

In other news, insider Justin J. Noznesky sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.72, for a total transaction of $55,080.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 74,284 shares in the company, valued at $2,727,708.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Justin J. Noznesky sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.72, for a total transaction of $55,080.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 74,284 shares in the company, valued at $2,727,708.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Karl S. Dahlquist sold 8,231 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.36, for a total value of $307,510.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 52,839 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,974,065.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,116 shares of company stock worth $468,797. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AtriCure

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ATRC. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in AtriCure in the third quarter valued at approximately $603,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in AtriCure by 14.4% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,854 shares of the medical device company's stock valued at $432,000 after buying an additional 1,238 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio boosted its position in AtriCure by 144.9% in the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 48,500 shares of the medical device company's stock valued at $2,124,000 after buying an additional 28,700 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in AtriCure by 2.5% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 20,753 shares of the medical device company's stock valued at $909,000 after buying an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in AtriCure by 18.1% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 10,046 shares of the medical device company's stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 1,537 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.11% of the company's stock.

AtriCure Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 3.57 and a quick ratio of 2.66. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.24. The company has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.67 and a beta of 1.41.

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The medical device company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.02). AtriCure had a negative return on equity of 7.55% and a negative net margin of 7.62%. The company had revenue of $108.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.86 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.23) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AtriCure, Inc. will post -0.71 EPS for the current year.

AtriCure Company 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.