Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms Buy Rating for Artivion (NYSE:AORT)

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Artivion (NYSE:AORT - Free Report) in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $32.00 price objective on the stock.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Artivion from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Artivion has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $31.40.

Artivion Stock Performance

NYSE AORT traded up $0.45 on Tuesday, reaching $28.98. 497,253 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 316,829. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of -1,449.00 and a beta of 1.54. Artivion has a one year low of $21.97 and a one year high of $32.33. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $24.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Artivion (NYSE:AORT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.06). Artivion had a negative net margin of 0.22% and a positive return on equity of 5.15%. The firm had revenue of $98.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.81 million. Analysts expect that Artivion will post 0.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Artivion

In related news, SVP Jean F. Holloway sold 18,020 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.61, for a total value of $425,452.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 197,184 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,655,514.24. This trade represents a 8.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James P. Mackin sold 42,156 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.31, for a total transaction of $1,151,280.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 663,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,130,617.42. The trade was a 5.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 90,799 shares of company stock worth $2,356,223 in the last quarter. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Artivion

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Artivion during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in Artivion by 109.3% during the first quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,176 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Artivion by 236.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,118 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 786 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Artivion in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI bought a new stake in shares of Artivion in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. 86.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.