Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Lowers Position in Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its holdings in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 183,731 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 16,099 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Vericel were worth $6,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Vericel by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 805 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vericel in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vericel by 116.5% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 970 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Vericel by 26.0% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,458 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vericel by 135.6% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 3,332 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,918 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Vericel Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ VCEL opened at $35.40 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.29 and a beta of 1.15. Vericel Corporation has a 1-year low of $28.95 and a 1-year high of $45.97. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $33.65 and its 200 day moving average is $36.05.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $68.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.68 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 6.41% and a net margin of 7.35%.Vericel’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.23) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Vericel Corporation will post 0.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vericel

In related news, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 3,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $121,520.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,460. This trade represents a 4.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 Company 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.