Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Decreases Position in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Key Points

• Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Vericel Corporation by 17.8%, now holding 35,268 shares valued at approximately $1.57 million.
• Wellington Management Group LLP significantly increased its holdings in Vericel by 119.3%, acquiring an additional 701,064 shares in the previous quarter.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Vericel, with reports ranging from a downgrade to a "sell" rating to an "overweight" rating with a target price of $67.00, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) by 17.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,268 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 7,647 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned about 0.07% of Vericel worth $1,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Vericel during the 4th quarter valued at about $261,000. Xponance Inc. purchased a new stake in Vericel during the 4th quarter valued at $214,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 14,528 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $798,000 after buying an additional 2,948 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Vericel in the 4th quarter worth $538,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 56,674 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,271,000 after purchasing an additional 12,268 shares in the last quarter.

Vericel Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of VCEL traded up $1.33 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $41.45. 500,353 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 484,170. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,382.13 and a beta of 1.32. Vericel Corporation has a 12-month low of $34.87 and a 12-month high of $63.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $41.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.10.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $52.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $53.86 million. Vericel had a net margin of 1.25% and a return on equity of 1.09%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.08) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Vericel Corporation will post 0.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VCEL. Truist Financial cut their price target on Vericel from $61.00 to $51.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $67.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vericel from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vericel currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.