BNP Paribas Financial Markets Lowers Stock Holdings in AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lowered its position in AtriCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC - Free Report) by 86.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,534 shares of the medical device company's stock after selling 79,020 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in AtriCure were worth $351,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Millrace Asset Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AtriCure by 2.4% in the third quarter. Millrace Asset Group Inc. now owns 71,708 shares of the medical device company's stock valued at $2,011,000 after buying an additional 1,660 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of AtriCure by 4.3% during the third quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,790,758 shares of the medical device company's stock valued at $78,253,000 after purchasing an additional 115,813 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AtriCure by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 120,483 shares of the medical device company's stock worth $3,378,000 after acquiring an additional 2,662 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in AtriCure by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 394,584 shares of the medical device company's stock valued at $11,064,000 after buying an additional 5,812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AtriCure during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $427,000. Institutional investors own 99.11% of the company's stock.

AtriCure Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ ATRC traded down $1.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $31.67. 494,255 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 699,184. The company's fifty day moving average is $32.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.59 and a current ratio of 3.62. AtriCure, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.94 and a fifty-two week high of $39.04. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a PE ratio of -38.16 and a beta of 1.40.

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The medical device company reported ($0.17) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.02. AtriCure had a negative return on equity of 8.12% and a negative net margin of 8.70%. The company had revenue of $115.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $112.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.20) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that AtriCure, Inc. will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ATRC. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of AtriCure from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AtriCure from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of AtriCure from $53.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of AtriCure from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of AtriCure from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.00.

AtriCure Company Profile

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.