Deutsche Bank AG Acquires Shares of 64,404 Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 64,404 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,865,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vericel by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,584,006 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $129,060,000 after acquiring an additional 68,368 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Vericel by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,163,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $113,933,000 after purchasing an additional 356,680 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Vericel by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,463,312 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $79,245,000 after purchasing an additional 208,750 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Vericel by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,222,107 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $80,018,000 after purchasing an additional 11,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Vericel by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,580,967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $56,931,000 after purchasing an additional 290,795 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Vericel

In related news, CFO Joseph Anthony Mara, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.75, for a total transaction of $223,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 16,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,402.75. This trade represents a 23.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 15,000 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.64, for a total transaction of $684,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,169.08. The trade was a 90.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 52,232 shares of company stock worth $2,304,217. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vericel Price Performance

Shares of Vericel stock opened at $42.44 on Thursday. Vericel Corporation has a one year low of $28.95 and a one year high of $49.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $44.87 and its 200-day moving average is $38.28. The firm has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.30 and a beta of 1.06.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.07. The company had revenue of $77.46 million for 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%. Vericel’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.01) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Vericel Corporation will post 0.54 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VCEL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Vericel from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Vericel from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective (up from $54.00) on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.40.

Vericel 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.