Fifth Third Bancorp Acquires 255,465 Shares of Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 20,888.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 256,688 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 255,465 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Vericel were worth $8,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vericel news, CFO Joseph Anthony Mara, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.75, for a total transaction of $223,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 16,009 shares in the company, valued at $716,402.75. This represents a 23.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan Siegal sold 2,732 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.90, for a total value of $122,666.80. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 886 shares in the company, valued at $39,781.40. This trade represents a 75.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 47,732 shares of company stock worth $2,084,167 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Vericel from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vericel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 14th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, May 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.50.

Vericel Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $46.72 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.68. Vericel Corporation has a one year low of $28.95 and a one year high of $48.33. The firm has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 111.24 and a beta of 1.07.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $68.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.68 million. Vericel had a net margin of 7.35% and a return on equity of 6.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 30.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.23) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Vericel Corporation will post 0.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Vericel

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.