Marshall Wace LLP Buys 167,476 Shares of AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC)

Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC) by 37.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 619,166 shares of the medical device company’s stock after acquiring an additional 167,476 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in AtriCure were worth $18,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ATRC. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of AtriCure by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 14,751 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $414,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in AtriCure by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,647 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $1,334,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Perkins Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in AtriCure by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Perkins Capital Management Inc. now owns 30,350 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $927,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in AtriCure by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 15,717 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of AtriCure by 0.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 56,843 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $1,569,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of AtriCure from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of AtriCure in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on AtriCure from $66.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on AtriCure from $51.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AtriCure in a report on Thursday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AtriCure has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.44.

AtriCure Stock Performance

Shares of ATRC opened at $32.01 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $35.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.42. The company has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a PE ratio of -33.69 and a beta of 1.65. AtriCure, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.94 and a 12-month high of $43.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at AtriCure

In related news, Director Karen Prange sold 6,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.12, for a total value of $232,532.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $679,603.36. This represents a 25.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About AtriCure

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.