CenterBook Partners LP Purchases New Holdings in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Key Points

• CenterBook Partners LP invested $888,000 in Vericel Corporation by acquiring 19,911 shares during the first quarter, as reported in a recent SEC filing.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Vericel, with seven ratings as "buy" and one as "sell," while the average price target is set at $59.86.
• Vericel reported a slight earnings beat for the last quarter, with an EPS of ($0.01), and revenue increased by 20.1% year-over-year.

CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new stake in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 19,911 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $888,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCEL. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Vericel during the fourth quarter valued at $57,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Vericel by 34.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,895 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 748 shares during the period. Gagnon Securities LLC acquired a new position in Vericel in the first quarter valued at approximately $137,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Vericel by 29.9% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,071 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 706 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in Vericel in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $215,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VCEL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vericel from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $67.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.33.

Vericel Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of VCEL stock traded up $1.25 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $36.68. 157,599 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 497,957. The business has a 50 day moving average of $40.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.48. Vericel Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.09 and a 52 week high of $63.00. The company has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of 305.86 and a beta of 1.27.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.03. Vericel had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 2.47%. The company had revenue of $63.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.10) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Vericel Corporation will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

About Vericel

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.