William Blair Investment Management LLC Buys 66,464 Shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 7.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 908,141 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 66,464 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 1.87% of Vericel worth $41,666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VCEL. Scholtz & Company LLC bought a new stake in Vericel during the second quarter valued at $1,357,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Vericel during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,234,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 34.9% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 840,787 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $38,575,000 after purchasing an additional 217,437 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Vericel in the second quarter worth approximately $5,227,000. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D purchased a new stake in Vericel in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,826,000.

Insider Transactions at Vericel

In related news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.40, for a total transaction of $899,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,356,161.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Vericel news, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.18, for a total value of $782,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,891.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.40, for a total transaction of $899,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,356,161.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,291 shares of company stock worth $2,329,169. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target 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. BTIG Research reduced their target price on Vericel from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on Vericel in a research note on Friday, August 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.75.

Vericel Stock Performance

Shares of VCEL stock opened at $45.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -4,582.42 and a beta of 1.67. Vericel Co. has a fifty-two week low of $30.18 and a fifty-two week high of $54.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $48.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.39.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10). The company had revenue of $52.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.59 million. Vericel had a net margin of 0.37% and a return on equity of 0.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.11) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vericel Co. will post 0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Vericel 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.