Needham & Company LLC Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Artivion (NYSE:AORT) Stock

Key Points

• Needham & Company LLC has reaffirmed a "Buy" rating for Artivion (NYSE:AORT) and increased the target price from $32.00 to $45.00, indicating a potential upside of 37.26% from the current price.
• Artivion recently reported earnings of $0.24 per share for the quarter, outperforming analysts' expectations of $0.11 per share, with revenue up 15.3% year-over-year.
• Insiders have sold a total of 62,406 shares in the last 90 days, representing a decrease in their ownership, while institutional investors own 86.37% of the company's stock.

Artivion (NYSE:AORT - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $32.00 to $45.00 in a research note issued on Friday, August 8th, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC's target price would indicate a potential upside of 7.72% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on AORT. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $33.00 price objective on shares of Artivion in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Artivion to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on Artivion in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $39.80.

Artivion Stock Performance

Shares of AORT traded down $1.0740 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $41.7760. The stock had a trading volume of 180,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 442,988. The firm has a market cap of $1.97 billion, a PE ratio of -99.50 and a beta of 1.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.50. Artivion has a one year low of $21.97 and a one year high of $43.97. The company has a current ratio of 4.78, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Artivion

In related news, insider John E. Davis sold 10,802 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total value of $471,723.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 208,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,117,335.26. The trade was a 4.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jean F. Holloway sold 23,356 shares of Artivion stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.01, for a total value of $1,004,541.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 172,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,403,268.29. The trade was a 11.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,564 shares of company stock worth $3,277,527 in the last three months. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Artivion

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Artivion in the fourth quarter worth about $275,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Artivion by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 19,623 shares of the company's stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Artivion by 64.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 160,796 shares of the company's stock worth $4,597,000 after purchasing an additional 62,893 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Artivion during the 4th quarter valued at about $288,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Artivion by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 21,707 shares of the company's stock worth $621,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.37% of the company's stock.

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.