Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Shares Purchased by Congress Asset Management Co.

Congress Asset Management Co. raised its stake in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,476,718 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 22,579 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. owned approximately 2.95% of Vericel worth $65,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Vericel by 119.3% during 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. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,273,964 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $69,953,000 after purchasing an additional 30,180 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vericel by 66.3% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,258,416 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $69,100,000 after acquiring an additional 501,736 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Vericel by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,166,115 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $64,046,000 after buying an additional 12,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in Vericel by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,122,373 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $61,630,000 after acquiring an additional 227,675 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vericel

In related news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 26,592 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.78, for a total transaction of $1,217,381.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 259,997 shares in the company, valued at $11,902,662.66. This represents a 9.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Vericel Price Performance

Shares of VCEL stock traded up $1.88 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $45.70. The stock had a trading volume of 352,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 417,690. Vericel Co. has a 12-month low of $37.39 and a 12-month high of $63.00. The firm's 50-day moving average is $41.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 761.79 and a beta of 1.33.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $52.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $53.86 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 1.48% and a net margin of 1.56%. Vericel's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.08) EPS. Analysts expect that Vericel Co. will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on VCEL. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vericel from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $67.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $51.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.14.

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.