Granite Investment Partners LLC Buys 48,056 Shares of Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 66.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 120,236 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 48,056 shares during the quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Vericel were worth $3,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCEL. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in shares of Vericel by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 25,744 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vericel by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,937 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $125,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Vericel by 0.8% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 45,404 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,932,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in shares of Vericel by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,698 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Vericel by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 9,126 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vericel

In related news, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $450,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 75,753 shares in the company, valued at $3,408,885. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.64, for a total transaction of $684,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,169.08. The trade was a 90.11% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,732 shares of company stock worth $2,084,167. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vericel Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of VCEL stock opened at $48.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.47 billion, a PE ratio of 115.03 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.42. Vericel Corporation has a 12 month low of $28.95 and a 12 month high of $48.33.

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 firm had revenue of $68.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.68 million. Vericel had a net margin of 7.35% and a return on equity of 6.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 30.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.23) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Vericel Corporation will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VCEL shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vericel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings raised Vericel from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.50.

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.