BlackRock Inc. Purchases Shares of 8,092,226 Vericel Corporation $VCEL

BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 8,092,226 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,023,000. BlackRock Inc. owned approximately 0.16% of Vericel at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VCEL. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Vericel during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Vericel in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 116.5% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 970 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 175.4% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 1,534 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Vericel during the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VCEL. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $60.00 price target on Vericel in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective (up from $54.00) on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Vericel from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.40.

Vericel Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCEL opened at $43.22 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.23. Vericel Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $28.95 and a fifty-two week high of $49.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.96 and a beta of 1.06.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $77.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.70 million. Vericel had a net margin of 7.91% and a return on equity of 6.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.01) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Vericel Corporation will post 0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $450,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 75,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,408,885. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.21, for a total value of $603,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,647 shares in the company, valued at $66,225.87. The trade was a 90.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 52,232 shares of company stock valued at $2,304,217 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Vericel Company 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.