Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC Buys 401,990 Shares of Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Key Points

• Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Vericel Corporation by 19.5%, now owning approximately 4.89% of the company with a total value of around $104.8 million.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Vericel, with one analyst assigning a Strong Buy rating, four assigning a Buy rating, and one giving a Sell rating, while the consensus price target is $58.40.
• Vericel reported a revenue increase of 20.1% year-over-year to $63.24 million, while exceeding earnings expectations with an EPS of ($0.01).

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) by 19.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,463,590 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 401,990 shares during the quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 4.89% of Vericel worth $104,826,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Vericel during the second quarter worth $30,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 101.3% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,379 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vericel by 34.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,895 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Vericel by 29.9% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,071 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gagnon Securities LLC bought a new position in Vericel during the first quarter worth about $137,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on VCEL. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Vericel from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Vericel in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Vericel from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Vericel from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vericel presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.40.

Vericel Price Performance

VCEL stock opened at $35.32 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 294.36 and a beta of 1.39. The business's fifty day moving average price is $33.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.21. Vericel Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $29.24 and a fifty-two week high of $63.00.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $64.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.10) earnings per share. Vericel's quarterly revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.