Kennedy Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Artivion, Inc. $AORT

Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT) by 20.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 367,762 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 63,205 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Artivion were worth $11,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Artivion by 1.9% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $910,000 after buying an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its position in Artivion by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 14,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 753 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its stake in Artivion by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 9,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Artivion by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 23,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Artivion by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 12,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,777 shares during the last quarter. 86.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Artivion Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:AORT opened at $45.37 on Friday. Artivion, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.97 and a 1 year high of $48.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -189.03 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 2.88 and a current ratio of 3.93. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.00.

Artivion (NYSE:AORT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. Artivion had a positive return on equity of 5.98% and a negative net margin of 2.16%.The company had revenue of $113.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $110.71 million. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Artivion, Inc. will post 0.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Artivion from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut Artivion from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $38.80 in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Artivion in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Artivion from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Artivion in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James P. Mackin sold 30,921 shares of Artivion stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total transaction of $1,408,760.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 800,993 shares in the company, valued at $36,493,241.08. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jean F. Holloway sold 7,315 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.30, for a total transaction of $331,369.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 156,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,071,012.90. The trade was a 4.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 229,939 shares of company stock valued at $10,409,364 over the last three months. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

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.