Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. Raises Position in Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 44.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 50,058 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,500 shares during the quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd.’s holdings in Vericel were worth $1,803,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vericel by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,584,006 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $129,060,000 after acquiring an additional 68,368 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vericel by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,254,562 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $81,187,000 after acquiring an additional 79,278 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vericel by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,222,107 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $80,018,000 after acquiring an additional 11,178 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vericel by 9.0% in the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,946,305 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $61,250,000 after acquiring an additional 161,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Vericel by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,664,578 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,941,000 after acquiring an additional 169,971 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Vericel

In other Vericel news, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 3,472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $121,520.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 75,556 shares in the company, valued at $2,644,460. This represents a 4.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 7.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VCEL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Leerink Partners reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Weiss Ratings cut Vericel from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Truist Financial cut their price target on Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Five 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.40.

Vericel Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ VCEL opened at $36.30 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $34.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.75. Vericel Corporation has a 52-week low of $28.95 and a 52-week high of $45.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.43 and a beta of 1.12.

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