AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,980,000 shares, a decline of 6.9% from the April 15th total of 3,200,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 789,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded AtriCure from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of AtriCure from $42.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of AtriCure from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on AtriCure from $57.00 to $49.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on AtriCure from $50.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AtriCure currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $49.78.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Karl S. Dahlquist sold 8,231 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 $1,974,065.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Karl S. Dahlquist sold 8,231 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.36, for a total value of $307,510.16. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 52,839 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,974,065.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Karl S. Dahlquist sold 1,885 shares of the firm'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 sale, the insider now owns 50,954 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,638,680.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,616 shares of company stock worth $504,932 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of AtriCure

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in AtriCure by 14.4% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,854 shares of the medical device company's stock worth $432,000 after buying an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of AtriCure by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 20,753 shares of the medical device company's stock worth $909,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,537 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in AtriCure by 31.5% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,074 shares of the medical device company's stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in AtriCure by 140.2% in the 3rd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 166,118 shares of the medical device company's stock valued at $7,276,000 after buying an additional 96,954 shares during the period. 99.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AtriCure Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ATRC traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $22.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 536,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 712,223. AtriCure has a fifty-two week low of $20.19 and a fifty-two week high of $59.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 4.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.29 and a beta of 1.41. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $26.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.39.

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The medical device company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.02). AtriCure had a negative net margin of 8.98% and a negative return on equity of 7.85%. The business had revenue of $108.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.86 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.23) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AtriCure will post -0.75 earnings per share for the current year.

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.