GAMMA Investing LLC Cuts Holdings in Vericel Corporation $VCEL

GAMMA Investing LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 24.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,185 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 710 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Vericel were worth $93,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of VCEL. Gagnon Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vericel during the 1st quarter worth approximately $137,000. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 29.9% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,071 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 706 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Vericel during the 4th quarter worth approximately $215,000. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Vericel in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new position in Vericel in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $243,000.

Vericel Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of Vericel stock opened at $31.52 on Friday. Vericel Corporation has a twelve month low of $29.24 and a twelve month high of $63.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 262.69 and a beta of 1.39. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $34.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.24.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.03. Vericel had a return on equity of 2.47% and a net margin of 2.85%.The company had revenue of $63.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.61 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.10) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Vericel Corporation will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on VCEL. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on Vericel from $61.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded Vericel from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.40.

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.