Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC Grows Position in Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,254,562 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 79,278 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vericel were worth $81,187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VCEL. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Vericel during the first quarter valued at $242,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Vericel by 6.2% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 31,445 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Vericel by 13.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 371,486 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $16,576,000 after purchasing an additional 44,333 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Vericel by 9.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 123,028 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,490,000 after purchasing an additional 10,191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its position in Vericel by 5.1% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 277,253 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $11,797,000 after purchasing an additional 13,422 shares in the last quarter.

Vericel Stock Up 3.9%

Shares of Vericel stock opened at $34.73 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.13. Vericel Corporation has a 52 week low of $28.95 and a 52 week high of $45.97. The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.03 and a beta of 1.20.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.45. Vericel had a return on equity of 5.17% and a net margin of 5.98%.The business had revenue of $92.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.66 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Vericel Corporation will post 0.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VCEL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. HC Wainwright lifted their target price on Vericel from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, Leerink Partners restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.40.

Insider Activity at Vericel

In other news, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 3,472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $121,520.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,556 shares in the company, valued at $2,644,460. The trade was a 4.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 7.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.