Vericel Corporation $VCEL Shares Sold by Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lessened its position in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,175,284 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 288,306 shares during the quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 4.31% of Vericel worth $68,456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VCEL. Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vericel by 30.7% during the second quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,784,927 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $75,949,000 after purchasing an additional 419,183 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its position in Vericel by 18.0% in the 2nd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,742,324 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $74,136,000 after buying an additional 265,606 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vericel by 3.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,240,389 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $52,786,000 after acquiring an additional 38,799 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Vericel by 62.5% during the second quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 997,291 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $42,435,000 after acquiring an additional 383,498 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 3.3% in the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 890,509 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $37,891,000 after acquiring an additional 28,178 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on VCEL. Truist Financial cut their price target on Vericel from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 18th. BTIG Research cut shares of Vericel from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Zacks Research cut shares of Vericel from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vericel in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.50.

Vericel Trading Down 5.3%

Shares of VCEL opened at $38.56 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.61. Vericel Corporation has a 12-month low of $29.24 and a 12-month high of $63.00. The firm has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a PE ratio of 160.67 and a beta of 1.17.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $67.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 4.30% and a net margin of 5.06%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.02) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vericel Corporation will post 0.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vericel Profile

Vericel Corporation is a biotechnology company specializing in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of cell-based therapies for patients with severe diseases and conditions. The company’s expertise lies in regenerative medicine, where it harnesses the power of autologous cell processing to create products designed to restore function and promote healing in damaged tissues.

Vericel currently markets two FDA-approved therapies. MACI® (autologous cultured chondrocytes on porcine collagen membrane) is indicated for the repair of symptomatic cartilage defects of the knee in adult patients.