Artivion (NYSE:AORT) Trading Down 6.5% After Analyst Downgrade

Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT)’s stock price dropped 6.5% during trading on Friday after Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The stock traded as low as $33.85 and last traded at $38.0110. Approximately 103,725 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 319,879 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.65.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Artivion in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Artivion in a report on Friday, November 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Artivion from $51.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Citizens Jmp lifted their price target on Artivion from $47.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Artivion in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Artivion presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Artivion

In related news, SVP Marshall S. Stanton sold 47,376 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.04, for a total transaction of $2,133,815.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 44,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,015,675.12. The trade was a 51.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James P. Mackin sold 30,921 shares of Artivion stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total value of $1,408,760.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 800,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,493,241.08. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 128,448 shares of company stock valued at $5,793,361 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Artivion

Here are the key news stories impacting Artivion this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat — Artivion reported Q4 EPS of $0.17 versus the $0.14 consensus and revenue of $118.3M (above estimates), with quarterly revenue up ~19% year-over-year. This confirms continued top-line momentum. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Full-year revenue growth — GAAP revenue rose to $441.3M for FY2025 from $388.5M in FY2024, signaling sustained recovery/expansion in sales. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: FY2026 revenue guidance modestly above street — management guided revenue to $486.0M–$504.0M (consensus ~$491.1M), which implies a midpoint slightly ahead of estimates and supports continued top-line growth. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call materials/transcript posted — the full Q4 earnings call transcript and slide deck are available for detail on segment performance and cadence. Useful for investors wanting management color. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst price-target trim — Canaccord cut its AORT price target from $51 to $48 while keeping a “buy” rating; the cut reduces near-term analyst upside and may have pressured sentiment. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: EPS guidance unclear/omitted — the company’s release/summary lacked clear EPS guidance (the EPS figure was not provided in the guidance summary), which can create uncertainty even with revenue guidance in place. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Large-volume sell-off — shares moved lower on unusually high volume versus average, indicating stronger selling pressure that amplified the price reaction to mixed news. Read More.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Artivion

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Artivion by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,170,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,588,000 after acquiring an additional 141,030 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Artivion by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,256,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,930,000 after purchasing an additional 18,248 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Artivion by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,584,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,288,000 after purchasing an additional 44,641 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Artivion by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 998,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,542,000 after purchasing an additional 66,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Artivion by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 980,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,737,000 after buying an additional 7,817 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.37% of the company’s stock.

Artivion Trading Down 10.9%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.60 and a 200 day moving average of $42.87. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 181.18 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 2.88 and a current ratio of 3.93.

Artivion (NYSE:AORT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $118.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.42 million. Artivion had a net margin of 2.21% and a return on equity of 7.74%. The company’s revenue was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Artivion, Inc. will post 0.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Artivion

Artivion, Inc (NYSE: AORT) is a global medical technology company that develops, manufactures and markets implantable tissue products and surgical devices for cardiac and vascular surgery. The company’s portfolio includes biologic implants derived from human and animal tissue, such as allografts and xenografts, as well as synthetic scaffolds and surgical adhesives. These products are designed to repair, reinforce or replace damaged cardiovascular and thoracic tissues during procedures such as aortic repair, heart valve surgery and vascular reconstruction.

Originally founded in 1984 under the name CryoLife, the company rebranded as Artivion in early 2022 to reflect its broader mission in cardiovascular innovation.