CenterBook Partners LP Makes New $888,000 Investment 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 acquired a new stake in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 19,911 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $888,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Vericel by 119.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,288,921 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $70,775,000 after purchasing an additional 701,064 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Vericel in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,233,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Vericel in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,126,000. Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Vericel by 24.2% in the 1st quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,365,744 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $60,939,000 after purchasing an additional 265,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Vericel by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,432,434 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $63,915,000 after purchasing an additional 158,470 shares during the last quarter.

Vericel Trading Up 0.2%

VCEL stock traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $36.24. The stock had a trading volume of 449,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 654,731. The firm has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 302.03 and a beta of 1.27. Vericel Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.09 and a 1-year high of $63.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $40.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.72.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $63.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.10) earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vericel Corporation will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vericel from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $51.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research report on Monday, June 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $59.86.

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.