AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC) has received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $42.00.

A number of brokerages recently commented on ATRC. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on AtriCure from $53.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded AtriCure from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of AtriCure from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of AtriCure from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of AtriCure in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th.

AtriCure Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ATRC opened at $33.66 on Thursday. 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 market cap of $1.64 billion, a PE ratio of -40.55 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.33. AtriCure has a 1-year low of $18.94 and a 1-year high of $39.04.

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The medical device company reported ($0.17) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $115.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.20) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that AtriCure will post -0.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AtriCure

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ATRC. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $1,569,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of AtriCure by 4.0% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,542 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of AtriCure by 4.0% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 21,441 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $488,000 after buying an additional 831 shares during the period. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI purchased a new stake in shares of AtriCure in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of AtriCure by 6.1% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 24,919 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $567,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.11% of the company’s stock.

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.