AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC) Short Interest Up 9.4% in March

AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,250,000 shares, an increase of 9.4% from the March 15th total of 2,970,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 668,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.9 days.

AtriCure Price Performance

ATRC stock traded down $1.19 on Monday, reaching $22.90. 1,315,355 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 669,812. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $31.80 and a 200-day moving average of $34.87. AtriCure has a twelve month low of $22.48 and a twelve month high of $59.61. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of -34.70 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 3.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The medical device company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.01. AtriCure had a negative return on equity of 7.55% and a negative net margin of 7.62%. The firm had revenue of $106.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $103.68 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.09) earnings per share. AtriCure's quarterly revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that AtriCure will post -0.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AtriCure

In other news, insider Karl S. Dahlquist sold 8,231 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.36, for a total transaction of $307,510.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 52,839 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,974,065.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Karl S. Dahlquist sold 1,885 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $60,621.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 50,954 shares in the company, valued at $1,638,680.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Karl S. Dahlquist sold 8,231 shares of the business'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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,974,065.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,116 shares of company stock valued at $468,797 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AtriCure

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. RiverPark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AtriCure in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI acquired a new stake in AtriCure in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in AtriCure in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. State of Wyoming grew its holdings in AtriCure by 34.6% in the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,030 shares of the medical device company's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Almanack Investment Partners LLC. acquired a new stake in AtriCure in the third quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.11% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ATRC. UBS Group boosted their price objective on AtriCure from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on AtriCure from $50.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of AtriCure in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered AtriCure from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $55.57.

About AtriCure

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.