William Blair Investment Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Vericel Corporation $VCEL

William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,992,855 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,662,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 3.89% of Vericel as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vericel in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Vericel in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vericel by 116.5% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 970 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vericel by 175.4% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 1,534 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Vericel during the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000.

Insider Activity at Vericel

In related news, CFO Joseph Anthony Mara, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the business’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 value of $223,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 16,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,402.75. The trade was a 23.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan Siegal sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.90, for a total value of $220,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,078 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,714.20. This trade represents a 80.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 52,232 shares of company stock valued at $2,304,217. 7.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Vericel Trading Up 1.4%

NASDAQ VCEL opened at $42.68 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $44.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.14. The stock has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a PE ratio of 90.81 and a beta of 1.06. Vericel Corporation has a 12 month low of $28.95 and a 12 month high of $49.32.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.07. Vericel had a net margin of 7.91% and a return on equity of 6.91%. The company had revenue of $77.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.01) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vericel Corporation will post 0.54 earnings per share 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.