William Blair Investment Management LLC Increases Stake in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 0.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 841,677 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 6,792 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 1.74% of Vericel worth $43,784,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VCEL. MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vericel by 86.1% in the 1st quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 482 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI purchased a new position in shares of Vericel in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of Vericel in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vericel in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, RiverPark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vericel in the 1st quarter valued at about $147,000.

Vericel Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Vericel stock traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $51.72. 528,968 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 474,961. Vericel Co. has a twelve month low of $30.18 and a twelve month high of $53.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5,172.00 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.61.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.03. Vericel had a net margin of 0.22% and a return on equity of 0.21%. The company had revenue of $51.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.07 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.16) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Vericel Co. will post 0.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vericel news, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 6,772 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.02, for a total transaction of $304,875.44. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,924.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 6,772 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.02, for a total value of $304,875.44. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,924.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.12, for a total transaction of $772,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,752 shares in the company, valued at $9,739,578.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 48,791 shares of company stock valued at $2,199,394 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Vericel in a report on Thursday, June 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of Vericel from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. BTIG Research dropped their target price on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.33.

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.