Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Cuts Position in Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC trimmed its stake in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 7.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 138,630 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 11,895 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC owned 0.27% of Vericel worth $4,460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Vericel in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Vericel during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Vericel by 116.5% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 970 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 175.4% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 1,534 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vericel in the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000.

Vericel Price Performance

NASDAQ VCEL opened at $46.05 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.98 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.46. Vericel Corporation has a 1 year low of $28.95 and a 1 year high of $49.32.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.07. The company had revenue of $77.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.70 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 6.91% and a net margin of 7.91%.The firm’s revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.01) EPS. Research analysts expect that Vericel Corporation will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $58.00 price target (up from $54.00) on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings raised Vericel from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Vericel from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vericel has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.40.

Insider Transactions at Vericel

In related news, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $450,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 75,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,408,885. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Joseph Anthony Mara, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.75, for a total transaction of $223,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 16,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,402.75. This represents a 23.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 52,232 shares of company stock worth $2,304,217 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

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.