AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) Reaches New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock from $40.00 to $51.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. AtriCure traded as high as $41.05 and last traded at $39.50, with a volume of 782535 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.63.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on AtriCure from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of AtriCure from $53.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of AtriCure from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of AtriCure in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.38.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AtriCure

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in AtriCure by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 14,751 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $414,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AtriCure by 0.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 56,843 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $1,569,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in AtriCure by 4.0% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 21,441 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 831 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in AtriCure by 65.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,360 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI purchased a new stake in AtriCure during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. 99.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AtriCure Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.59 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 3.62, a quick ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.27.

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The medical device company reported ($0.17) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $115.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $112.23 million. AtriCure had a negative net margin of 8.70% and a negative return on equity of 8.12%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.20) EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that AtriCure, Inc. will post -0.75 earnings per share for the current year.

About AtriCure

AtriCure, Inc develops, manufactures, and sells devices for surgical ablation of cardiac tissue, exclusion of the left atrial appendage, and temporarily blocking pain by ablating peripheral nerves to medical centers in the United States, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company offers Isolator Synergy Clamps, single-use disposable radio frequency products; multifunctional pens and linear ablation devices, such as the MAX Pen device that enables surgeons to evaluate cardiac arrhythmias, perform temporary cardiac pacing, sensing, and stimulation, and ablate cardiac tissue with the same device; and the Coolrail device, which enables users to make longer linear lines of ablation.