Canaccord Genuity Group Begins Coverage on Artivion (NYSE:AORT)

Investment analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on shares of Artivion (NYSE:AORT) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 17.99% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on AORT. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Artivion in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Artivion to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Artivion in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Artivion from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Artivion has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

Artivion Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of AORT opened at $29.66 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $26.94 and its 200 day moving average is $27.48. Artivion has a fifty-two week low of $21.97 and a fifty-two week high of $32.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of -59.33 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 3.95 and a current ratio of 5.53.

Artivion (NYSE:AORT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.06). Artivion had a positive return on equity of 3.63% and a negative net margin of 5.49%. The business had revenue of $98.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.81 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Artivion will post 0.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jean F. Holloway sold 9,926 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total transaction of $287,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,430,482. The trade was a 5.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Marshall S. Stanton sold 10,548 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.13, for a total transaction of $307,263.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 105,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,068,321.16. This represents a 9.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 72,954 shares of company stock valued at $2,108,525. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Artivion

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Artivion by 236.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 786 shares during the period. Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Artivion in the first quarter worth about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Artivion by 109.3% in the first quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the period. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI purchased a new stake in Artivion in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Artivion in the fourth quarter worth about $64,000. 86.37% of the stock is 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.