Next Century Growth Investors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT)

Next Century Growth Investors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT - Free Report) by 29.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 492,653 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 112,918 shares during the quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC owned about 1.18% of Artivion worth $14,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Artivion by 236.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,118 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Artivion in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI bought a new stake in shares of Artivion during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Artivion in the fourth quarter worth about $78,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Artivion by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,772 shares of the company's stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.37% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AORT shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Artivion from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Artivion from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $31.40.

Artivion Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AORT traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $23.05. 97,367 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 293,259. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $983.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1,151.55 and a beta of 1.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $25.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.41. Artivion, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.36 and a 52 week high of $32.33.

Artivion (NYSE:AORT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The company reported ($0.39) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.51). Artivion had a positive return on equity of 5.15% and a negative net margin of 0.22%. The business had revenue of $97.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $100.82 million. Analysts predict that Artivion, Inc. will post 0.37 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jean F. Holloway sold 18,020 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 197,184 shares in the company, valued at $4,655,514.24. This represents a 8.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James P. Mackin sold 42,156 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.31, for a total transaction of $1,151,280.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 663,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,130,617.42. This represents a 5.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 90,799 shares of company stock valued at $2,356,223 in the last quarter. Insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

Artivion Company Profile

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.