New York State Common Retirement Fund Boosts Stake in Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT)

New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,017 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.10% of Artivion worth $1,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Artivion by 182.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 28,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,000 after buying an additional 18,486 shares in the last quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Artivion by 151.6% during the 3rd quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 5,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,000 after buying an additional 3,246 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Artivion by 2,481,700.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 24,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $661,000 after buying an additional 24,817 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Artivion by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 10,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Artivion by 28.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 19,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,000 after buying an additional 4,295 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.37% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James P. Mackin sold 42,156 shares of Artivion stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.31, for a total transaction of $1,151,280.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 663,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,130,617.42. The trade was a 5.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amy Horton sold 4,329 shares of Artivion stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $4,023,675.60. The trade was a 3.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 77,224 shares of company stock valued at $2,162,330 in the last quarter. Insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Artivion Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AORT opened at $25.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of -1,257.50 and a beta of 1.75. Artivion, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.38 and a 52 week high of $32.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company’s fifty day moving average is $29.45 and its 200 day moving average is $27.84.

Artivion (NYSE:AORT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The company reported ($0.39) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.51). The firm had revenue of $97.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $100.82 million. Artivion had a positive return on equity of 5.15% and a negative net margin of 0.22%. Research analysts anticipate that Artivion, Inc. will post 0.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AORT. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Artivion from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Artivion from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of Artivion in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $31.40.

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.