Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Buys 408 Shares of Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its position in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,795 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 408 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Vericel were worth $630,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Vericel in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vericel in the first quarter valued at about $137,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vericel in the first quarter valued at about $242,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a report on Monday, June 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Vericel in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered shares of Vericel from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.40.

Vericel Stock Performance

NASDAQ VCEL opened at $33.49 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 279.11 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.47. Vericel Corporation has a one year low of $29.24 and a one year high of $63.00.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.10) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Vericel Corporation will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vericel Company 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.