Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Grows Stake in Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,519 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Artivion were worth $504,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Artivion by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,041,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,791,000 after purchasing an additional 226,160 shares in the last quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC grew its position in shares of Artivion by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC now owns 492,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,085,000 after purchasing an additional 112,918 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Artivion by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 463,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,244,000 after purchasing an additional 42,170 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Artivion by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 358,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,241,000 after purchasing an additional 8,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oberweis Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Artivion by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Oberweis Asset Management Inc. now owns 312,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,946,000 after acquiring an additional 30,500 shares in the last quarter. 86.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Artivion Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:AORT opened at $30.72 on Friday. Artivion, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.97 and a 52-week high of $32.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $28.59 and a 200 day moving average of $27.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of -61.44 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 posted 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). The business had revenue of $98.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.81 million. Artivion had a positive return on equity of 3.63% and a negative net margin of 5.49%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Artivion, Inc. will post 0.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AORT shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of Artivion in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Artivion in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Artivion to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on shares of Artivion in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Artivion news, SVP Jean F. Holloway sold 8,748 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total value of $253,692.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 178,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,176,790. The trade was a 4.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Anthony B. Semedo sold 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.47, for a total transaction of $74,022.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 33,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,189.73. This represents a 7.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 72,954 shares of company stock valued at $2,108,525 over the last three months. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Artivion 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.