Vericel Corporation $VCEL Shares Acquired by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 187,616 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,002 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Vericel were worth $6,756,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its position in Vericel by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,664,578 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $59,941,000 after purchasing an additional 169,971 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its stake in Vericel by 174.0% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 64,387 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,026,000 after acquiring an additional 40,892 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc raised its stake in Vericel by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 583,884 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $21,026,000 after acquiring an additional 41,018 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Vericel by 90.3% during the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,210,929 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $69,578,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048,864 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP raised its stake in Vericel by 171.1% during the 3rd quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 184,986 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,822,000 after acquiring an additional 116,756 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Vericel

In other news, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 3,472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $121,520.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 75,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,460. The trade was a 4.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Vericel Stock Performance

VCEL opened at $34.24 on Friday. Vericel Corporation has a one year low of $28.95 and a one year high of $45.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $33.90 and its 200-day moving average is $35.95. The company has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of 81.53 and a beta of 1.15.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.03. Vericel had a return on equity of 6.41% and a net margin of 7.35%.The company had revenue of $68.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.68 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.23) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 30.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vericel Corporation will post 0.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Vericel from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Leerink Partners reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Vericel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.40.

Vericel Profile

Vericel Corporation is a biotechnology company specializing in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of cell-based therapies for patients with severe diseases and conditions. The company’s expertise lies in regenerative medicine, where it harnesses the power of autologous cell processing to create products designed to restore function and promote healing in damaged tissues.

Vericel currently markets two FDA-approved therapies. MACI® (autologous cultured chondrocytes on porcine collagen membrane) is indicated for the repair of symptomatic cartilage defects of the knee in adult patients.