Virtus Advisers LLC Takes Position in Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 15,570 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $693,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Vericel during the 2nd quarter worth about $360,023,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vericel in the 2nd quarter valued at about $24,463,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,163,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $113,933,000 after acquiring an additional 356,680 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,580,967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $56,931,000 after acquiring an additional 290,795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vericel by 133.6% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 497,167 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $17,903,000 after purchasing an additional 284,305 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VCEL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price target (up from $54.00) on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $60.00 price objective on Vericel in a report on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Vericel from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.40.

Vericel Trading Down 3.4%

Vericel stock opened at $42.11 on Friday. Vericel Corporation has a 1 year low of $28.95 and a 1 year high of $49.32. The company has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a PE ratio of 89.60 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50-day moving average is $44.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.10.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $72.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.01) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Vericel Corporation will post 0.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vericel

In other Vericel news, insider Jonathan Siegal sold 4,500 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction 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 approximately $52,714.20. The trade was a 80.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joseph Anthony Mara, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.75, for a total transaction of $223,750.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 16,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,402.75. The trade was a 23.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 52,232 shares of company stock valued at $2,304,217. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.