First Eagle Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Artivion, Inc. (NYSE:AORT) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 591,715 shares of the company’s stock after selling 30,133 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned about 1.41% of Artivion worth $16,917,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Artivion by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 115,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,066,000 after acquiring an additional 25,176 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Artivion by 346.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 70,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,888,000 after purchasing an additional 54,996 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new position in Artivion during the third quarter valued at $5,798,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Artivion by 394.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 97,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,606,000 after purchasing an additional 78,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Artivion by 58.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 340,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,074,000 after purchasing an additional 125,668 shares in the last quarter. 86.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Artivion news, SVP Jean F. Holloway sold 18,020 shares of Artivion stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.61, for a total transaction of $425,452.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 197,184 shares in the company, valued at $4,655,514.24. This trade represents a 8.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John E. Davis sold 6,457 shares of Artivion stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.31, for a total transaction of $176,340.67. Following the sale, the insider now owns 160,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,386,832.61. This represents a 3.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 90,799 shares of company stock valued at $2,356,223 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Artivion Price Performance

Shares of AORT stock opened at $23.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $28.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.74. Artivion, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.11 and a 12 month high of $32.33. The company has a market capitalization of $986.28 million, a PE ratio of -1,172.80 and a beta of 1.79.

Artivion (NYSE:AORT) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The company reported ($0.39) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $97.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $100.82 million. Analysts predict that Artivion, Inc. will post 0.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AORT shares. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Artivion from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Artivion in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Artivion from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.40.

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.