Comerica Bank Boosts Holdings in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 7.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 216,060 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 15,376 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank owned 0.44% of Vericel worth $11,239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Vericel by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,413,442 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $177,567,000 after buying an additional 39,349 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Vericel by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,339,960 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $83,326,000 after purchasing an additional 109,215 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of Vericel by 10.9% during the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,021,695 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $53,149,000 after purchasing an additional 100,797 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Vericel by 0.8% in the first quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 841,677 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $43,784,000 after buying an additional 6,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its holdings in Vericel by 509.1% in the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 836,481 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $43,514,000 after purchasing an additional 699,147 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on VCEL shares. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. HC Wainwright increased their target price on Vericel from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. BTIG Research dropped their price objective on Vericel from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Vericel in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.33.

Vericel Trading Down 5.6 %

Shares of Vericel stock traded down $2.85 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $47.67. 778,713 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 465,190. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4,726.27 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a fifty day moving average of $47.21 and a 200-day moving average of $46.77. Vericel Co. has a 52-week low of $30.18 and a 52-week high of $54.08.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.08) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $51.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.07 million. Vericel had a net margin of 0.22% and a return on equity of 0.21%. The company’s revenue was up 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.16) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vericel Co. will post 0.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vericel news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Vericel news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.12, for a total transaction of $772,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,739,578.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 1,474 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total transaction of $67,568.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,324.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 63,791 shares of company stock valued at $3,101,269. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.