Wellington Management Group LLP Has $70.78 Million Stock Position in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 119.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,288,921 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 701,064 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Vericel were worth $70,775,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VCEL. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,357 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in Vericel by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 7,952 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Vericel by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 6,111 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in Vericel by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,900 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,312,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vericel by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 13,803 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $758,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period.

Insider Activity at Vericel

In other Vericel news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 24,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total value of $1,040,966.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 260,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,906,229.06. This represents a 8.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vericel Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ VCEL opened at $42.10 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $41.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 701.78 and a beta of 1.31. Vericel Co. has a 1-year low of $37.39 and a 1-year high of $63.00.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $52.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $53.86 million. Vericel had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 1.48%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.08) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Vericel Co. will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VCEL. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Vericel from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vericel presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.14.

About Vericel

Vericel Corporation, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and distribution of cellular therapies for sports medicine and severe burn care markets in North America. The company markets autologous cell therapy products comprising MACI, an autologous cultured chondrocytes on porcine collagen membrane for the repair of symptomatic, and single or multiple full-thickness cartilage defects of the knee; Epicel, a permanent skin replacement humanitarian use device for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with deep-dermal or full-thickness burns; and NexoBrid, a biological orphan product for eschar removal in adults with deep partial-thickness and/or full-thickness thermal burns.