GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires 127,028 Shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 5,916.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 129,175 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 127,028 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned 0.26% of Vericel worth $5,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCEL. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI acquired a new position in Vericel during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in Vericel during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Vericel by 511.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,265 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Vericel by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,357 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vericel in the fourth quarter worth $214,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VCEL. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $67.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.14.

Insider Activity at Vericel

In other Vericel news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 24,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total transaction of $1,040,966.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 260,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,906,229.06. The trade was a 8.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vericel Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCEL opened at $43.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a PE ratio of 730.46 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a fifty day moving average of $41.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.02. Vericel Co. has a 52-week low of $37.39 and a 52-week high of $63.00.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $52.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $53.86 million. Vericel had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 1.48%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.08) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Vericel Co. will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Vericel Profile

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.