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

AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,250,000 shares, a drop of 31.6% from the October 15th total of 3,290,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 586,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days.

AtriCure Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ ATRC traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $35.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 601,627 shares, compared to its average volume of 726,136. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $29.90 and a 200 day moving average of $25.34. The company has a quick ratio of 2.59, a current ratio of 3.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. AtriCure has a twelve month low of $18.94 and a twelve month high of $43.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -42.20 and a beta of 1.41.

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The medical device company reported ($0.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.02. AtriCure had a negative return on equity of 8.12% and a negative net margin of 8.70%. The business had revenue of $115.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $112.23 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.20) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that AtriCure will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ATRC shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AtriCure from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on AtriCure from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on AtriCure from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of AtriCure from $30.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of AtriCure from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.11.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AtriCure

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hood River Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AtriCure in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,422,000. First Light Asset Management LLC grew its stake in AtriCure by 42.1% in the second quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 1,964,703 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $44,736,000 after acquiring an additional 581,843 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of AtriCure by 27.3% in the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,681,000 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $81,556,000 after acquiring an additional 575,605 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of AtriCure by 132.5% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 952,765 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $21,694,000 after purchasing an additional 543,023 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis bought a new position in shares of AtriCure during the 1st quarter valued at about $9,126,000. Institutional investors 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.