Insider Selling: Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT) CEO Sells 42,156 Shares of Stock

Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT) CEO James P. Mackin sold 42,156 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.31, for a total transaction of $1,151,280.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 663,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,130,617.42. This trade represents a 5.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Artivion Stock Down 0.8 %

AORT stock traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.37. 295,834 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 385,115. The company has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1,268.25 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $29.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.83.

Artivion (NYSE:AORT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The company reported ($0.39) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.51). Artivion had a positive return on equity of 5.15% and a negative net margin of 0.22%. The business had revenue of $97.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $100.82 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Artivion, Inc. will post 0.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AORT. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Artivion by 236.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Artivion by 210.8% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Artivion during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI acquired a new stake in Artivion during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Artivion during the 4th quarter worth approximately $64,000. 86.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AORT. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Artivion from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note 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. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Artivion from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Artivion in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.40.

Artivion Company Profile

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.