Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. Boosts Stock Holdings in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Key Points

• Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. increased its stake in Vericel Corporation by 91.5% during the first quarter, owning a total of 47,337 shares valued at approximately $2.1 million.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Vericel, with one rating it a sell while seven others have given it a buy rating, resulting in a consensus of a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $59.86.
• Vericel reported a quarterly revenue of $63.24 million, marking a 20.1% increase year-over-year, although it slightly missed analyst expectations.

Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) by 91.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,337 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 22,617 shares during the period. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. owned 0.09% of Vericel worth $2,112,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VCEL. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in Vericel during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Vericel by 34.8% during the first 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 in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Vericel by 29.9% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,071 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 706 shares in the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC purchased a new position in Vericel during the first quarter valued at approximately $137,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in Vericel during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $215,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VCEL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $51.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vericel from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $67.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $59.86.

Vericel Price Performance

Shares of Vericel stock opened at $36.24 on Friday. Vericel Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.09 and a 1 year high of $63.00. The firm has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a PE ratio of 302.03 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.81.

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

Vericel Company 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.

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