Vanguard Group Inc. Has $129.06 Million Position in Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,584,006 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 68,368 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Vericel worth $129,060,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of VCEL. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its position in Vericel by 11.4% in 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 last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 174.0% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 64,387 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,026,000 after purchasing an additional 40,892 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 583,884 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $21,026,000 after buying an additional 41,018 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 90.3% in the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,210,929 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $69,578,000 after buying an additional 1,048,864 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Vericel by 171.1% in the third quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 184,986 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,822,000 after buying an additional 116,756 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday. Leerink Partners reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.40.

Insider Activity at Vericel

In related news, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 3,472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $121,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 75,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,644,460. The trade was a 4.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vericel Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of VCEL opened at $32.92 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 78.38 and a beta of 1.15. Vericel Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.95 and a 12-month high of $45.97.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.03. Vericel had a return on equity of 6.41% and a net margin of 7.35%.The firm had revenue of $68.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.68 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.23) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 30.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Vericel Corporation will post 0.45 EPS for the current year.

About Vericel

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.