Renaissance Technologies LLC Makes New $405,000 Investment in Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 12,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $405,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vericel in the 1st quarter worth $257,000. Gibbs Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Vericel by 67.8% during the 1st quarter. Gibbs Wealth Management now owns 20,506 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $660,000 after acquiring an additional 8,286 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 55.3% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 360,712 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $11,604,000 after purchasing an additional 128,494 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 23.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 28,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 5,414 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Vericel by 767.1% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 53,841 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,732,000 after purchasing an additional 47,632 shares during the last quarter.

Vericel Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of VCEL opened at $44.26 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $44.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.01. Vericel Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.95 and a 12-month high of $49.32. The firm has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.17 and a beta of 1.06.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.07. The business had revenue of $77.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.70 million. Vericel had a net margin of 7.91% and a return on equity of 6.91%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.01) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Vericel Corporation will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on VCEL. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vericel from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price target (up from $54.00) on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Vericel from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.40.

Insider Activity 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 transaction of $450,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 75,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,408,885. This trade represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan Siegal sold 4,500 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.90, for a total transaction of $220,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,714.20. This trade represents a 80.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 52,232 shares of company stock worth $2,304,217. Company 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.