Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 31,635 Shares of Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 58.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,880 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,635 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.17% of Vericel worth $3,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Vericel in the fourth quarter worth $57,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 34.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,895 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vericel in the first quarter worth $137,000. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 29.9% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,071 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 706 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Vericel in the fourth quarter worth $215,000.

Vericel Price Performance

VCEL opened at $37.03 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $38.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.25. Vericel Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.09 and a 1 year high of $63.00. The stock has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 308.61 and a beta of 1.27.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.03. Vericel had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 2.47%. The firm had revenue of $63.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.10) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Vericel Corporation will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VCEL shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $67.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a report on Monday, June 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Vericel presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.33.

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.