AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,300,000 shares, a decrease of 6.5% from the May 31st total of 3,530,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 796,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.1 days.

AtriCure Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ATRC traded up $0.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $22.45. The stock had a trading volume of 408,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 740,525. AtriCure has a one year low of $18.94 and a one year high of $59.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 4.00. The stock has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of -28.06 and a beta of 1.44. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $22.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.71.

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The medical device company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.02). AtriCure had a negative net margin of 8.98% and a negative return on equity of 7.85%. The firm had revenue of $108.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.86 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.23) earnings per share. AtriCure’s revenue was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that AtriCure will post -0.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on AtriCure from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on AtriCure from $42.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded AtriCure from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Oppenheimer upgraded AtriCure from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on AtriCure from $57.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Salvatore Privitera purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $22.25 per share, for a total transaction of $111,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 103,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,298,202.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Salvatore Privitera purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $22.25 per share, for a total transaction of $111,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 103,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,298,202.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Justin J. Noznesky sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.09, for a total value of $36,135.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 71,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,717,231.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATRC. Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its position in AtriCure by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 57,223 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $2,506,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in AtriCure by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 21,237 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $758,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in AtriCure by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 8,371 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 659 shares during the period. Comerica Bank boosted its position in AtriCure by 70.5% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,522 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in AtriCure by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,202 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 1,155 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.11% of the company’s stock.

AtriCure Company Profile

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.