Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT) by 8.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 194,630 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,094 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.46% of Artivion worth $5,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Artivion by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 115,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,066,000 after acquiring an additional 25,176 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Artivion by 346.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 70,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,888,000 after purchasing an additional 54,996 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Artivion during the third quarter worth $5,798,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Artivion by 58.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 340,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,074,000 after buying an additional 125,668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centiva Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Artivion in the 3rd quarter valued at about $565,000. Institutional investors own 86.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AORT. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Artivion from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of Artivion in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Artivion from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Artivion in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $31.80.

Artivion Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AORT opened at $28.08 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.69. The stock has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -1,404.00 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Artivion, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.48 and a fifty-two week high of $30.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amy Horton sold 4,329 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.66, for a total transaction of $128,398.14. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 135,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,023,675.60. The trade was a 3.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Jean F. Holloway sold 8,070 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.12, for a total value of $243,068.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 153,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,634,323.44. This trade represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,017 shares of company stock worth $600,007. 8.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.