Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Position Boosted by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 57,286 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,278 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Vericel were worth $2,040,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in Vericel by 59.5% in the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 855,207 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,667,000 after buying an additional 318,916 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 61,063.9% in the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 208,569 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,991,000 after acquiring an additional 208,228 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Vericel by 39.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 571,298 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $19,150,000 after purchasing an additional 161,652 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 35.5% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 540,209 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $18,108,000 after purchasing an additional 141,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of Vericel in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,048,000.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vericel

In other news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.59, for a total transaction of $780,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 195,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,708,739.13. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.59, for a total transaction of $780,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 195,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,708,739.13. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 3,278 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.57, for a total value of $169,046.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,395 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,480.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,267 shares of company stock worth $2,450,996 over the last 90 days. 7.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vericel Price Performance

NASDAQ VCEL opened at $48.65 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.66. Vericel Co. has a 52-week low of $30.18 and a 52-week high of $53.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -540.56 and a beta of 1.74.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.03. Vericel had a negative net margin of 1.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.55%. The company had revenue of $51.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.16) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Vericel Co. will post 0.09 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VCEL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Vericel from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on shares of Vericel from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.80.

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.