Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 22,400 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $721,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VCEL. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its holdings in Vericel by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,664,578 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,941,000 after buying an additional 169,971 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in Vericel by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 583,884 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $21,026,000 after acquiring an additional 41,018 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,580,967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $56,931,000 after acquiring an additional 290,795 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 9.0% in the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,946,305 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $61,250,000 after acquiring an additional 161,378 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 2,152.6% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 45,885 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,652,000 after acquiring an additional 43,848 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VCEL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vericel from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Leerink Partners reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen cut Vericel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vericel currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.50.

Vericel Stock Performance

NASDAQ VCEL traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $46.62. 31,642 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 615,744. The business’s 50 day moving average is $37.46 and its 200-day moving average is $36.18. Vericel Corporation has a 1 year low of $28.95 and a 1 year high of $47.79. The company has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 111.01 and a beta of 1.07.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $68.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.68 million. Vericel had a net margin of 7.35% and a return on equity of 6.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.23) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Vericel Corporation will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 15,000 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.64, for a total value of $684,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,647 shares in the company, valued at $75,169.08. The trade was a 90.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $450,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,408,885. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 47,732 shares of company stock valued at $2,084,167 over the last quarter. 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.