Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Decreases Stake in Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its stake in Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,334 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,718 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.06% of Artivion worth $417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AORT. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Artivion by 37.3% in the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 526,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,982,000 after acquiring an additional 143,146 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Artivion by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 317,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,821,000 after acquiring an additional 2,659 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of Artivion by 187.5% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 82,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,250,000 after acquiring an additional 53,773 shares during the period. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Artivion in the third quarter worth $1,034,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Artivion in the fourth quarter worth $916,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.37% of the company’s stock.

Artivion Stock Up 3.6 %

AORT stock opened at $20.33 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $837.60 million, a PE ratio of -27.11 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 3.43 and a current ratio of 4.85. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $20.35 and its 200 day moving average is $17.87. Artivion, Inc. has a one year low of $12.16 and a one year high of $21.90.

Artivion (NYSE:AORT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.24. Artivion had a negative net margin of 8.67% and a positive return on equity of 3.02%. The business had revenue of $93.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.75 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Artivion, Inc. will post 0.26 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AORT. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Artivion in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Artivion from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jean F. Holloway sold 3,527 shares of Artivion stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.86, for a total value of $66,519.22. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 131,858 shares in the company, valued at $2,486,841.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Jean F. Holloway sold 3,527 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.86, for a total value of $66,519.22. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 131,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,486,841.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amy Horton sold 1,695 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.86, for a total transaction of $31,967.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 122,345 shares in the company, valued at $2,307,426.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 149,952 shares of company stock worth $2,891,627 over the last 90 days. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.