Vericel Corporation $VCEL Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its stake in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 36.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 199,830 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 116,509 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Vericel were worth $6,288,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Vericel by 1.9% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,882 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Vericel by 13.7% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,937 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $125,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Vericel by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 45,404 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,932,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its position in Vericel by 2.8% in the second quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 14,795 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $630,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EFG Asset Management North America Corp. grew its position in Vericel by 0.3% in the third quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 138,775 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,367,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VCEL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Vericel from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vericel in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 25th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Vericel from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.50.

Vericel Price Performance

NASDAQ VCEL opened at $36.19 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 150.80 and a beta of 1.24. Vericel Corporation has a 12 month low of $29.24 and a 12 month high of $59.77. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $37.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.28.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.12. Vericel had a net margin of 5.06% and a return on equity of 4.30%. The business had revenue of $67.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.02) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vericel Corporation will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

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.