Champlain Investment Partners LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Key Points

• Champlain Investment Partners LLC has reduced its stake in Vericel Corporation by 1.5%, owning 613,793 shares valued at approximately $27.4 million after selling 9,647 shares in the first quarter.
• Other investment firms, including Rafferty Asset Management LLC and BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT, have increased their holdings in Vericel, indicating varied sentiment among institutional investors.
• Vericel's stock saw a 1.5% decline, with a current trading price around $35.89, while analysts have issued a consensus rating of "Buy" with a target price of $60.40.

Champlain Investment Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 613,793 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 9,647 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 1.22% of Vericel worth $27,387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Vericel in the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Vericel by 34.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,895 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 748 shares during the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Vericel during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $137,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Vericel by 29.9% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,071 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Vericel during the fourth quarter worth $215,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on Vericel from $61.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Vericel from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $67.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a report on Monday, June 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Vericel currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $60.40.

Vericel Stock Performance

VCEL stock traded down $0.70 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $35.66. The company had a trading volume of 100,874 shares, compared to its average volume of 499,794. The company has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 298.27 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.12. Vericel Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.09 and a fifty-two week high of $63.00.

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

Vericel Profile

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.