State of Alaska Department of Revenue Has $1.28 Million Stock Position in Vericel Corporation $VCEL

State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 9.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,974 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,625 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue owned 0.06% of Vericel worth $1,275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Vericel by 34.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,895 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Vericel by 29.9% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,071 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 706 shares in the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Vericel in the first quarter valued at approximately $137,000. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vericel in the first quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Vericel in the second quarter valued at approximately $243,000.

Vericel Price Performance

NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $32.44 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $34.46 and a 200-day moving average of $39.09. The company has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a PE ratio of 270.36 and a beta of 1.39. Vericel Corporation has a one year low of $29.24 and a one year high of $63.00.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VCEL. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Vericel in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $67.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered shares of Vericel from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.40.

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.