Arizona State Retirement System Purchases 351 Shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 2.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,665 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Vericel were worth $476,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VCEL. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Vericel by 83.1% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 105,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,014,000 after acquiring an additional 47,673 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Vericel by 2.1% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 459,334 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $17,556,000 after acquiring an additional 9,289 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in Vericel by 600.3% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,184 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 5,301 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. bought a new position in Vericel in the first quarter valued at $589,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Vericel by 58.1% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 26,447 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after buying an additional 9,717 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Vericel from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $39.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 8th. Leerink Partnrs restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vericel in a research report on Monday, October 16th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Vericel in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of Vericel in a report on Monday, October 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $42.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a report on Thursday, September 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.70.

Vericel Price Performance

Shares of VCEL opened at $36.86 on Monday. Vericel Co. has a one year low of $17.30 and a one year high of $39.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of -127.10 and a beta of 1.67.

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 the United States. 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; and Epicel, a permanent skin replacement humanitarian use device for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with deep-dermal or full-thickness burns.