Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $721,000 Investment in Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in Vericel, buying 22,400 shares worth about $721,000 in the first quarter.
• Several other institutional investors also increased their Vericel holdings, while company insiders have been selling shares recently, including the CFO and an insider named Jonathan Siegal.
• Vericel reported better-than-expected Q1 results, with EPS of -$0.12 versus -$0.15 expected and revenue up 30.1% year over year to $68.43 million; analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with a $52.50 target price.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 22,400 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $721,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VCEL. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its holdings in Vericel by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,664,578 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $59,941,000 after buying an additional 169,971 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 583,884 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $21,026,000 after buying an additional 41,018 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its position in Vericel by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,580,967 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $56,931,000 after purchasing an additional 290,795 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Vericel by 9.0% during the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,946,305 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $61,250,000 after buying an additional 161,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Vericel by 2,152.6% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 45,885 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,652,000 after purchasing an additional 43,848 shares during the period.

Insider Activity at Vericel

In other Vericel news, insider Jonathan Siegal sold 2,732 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.90, for a total value of $122,666.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 886 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,781.40. This trade represents a 75.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joseph Anthony Mara, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.75, for a total transaction of $223,750.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 16,009 shares of the company's stock, valued at $716,402.75. The trade was a 23.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 47,732 shares of company stock valued at $2,084,167 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

Vericel Price Performance

Vericel stock traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $46.62. The stock had a trading volume of 31,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 615,744. The company has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 111.01 and a beta of 1.07. The business's 50 day moving average price is $37.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.18. Vericel Corporation has a 52 week low of $28.95 and a 52 week high of $47.79.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.03. Vericel had a net margin of 7.35% and a return on equity of 6.41%. The company had revenue of $68.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $63.68 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.23) earnings per share. Vericel's revenue for the quarter was up 30.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vericel Corporation will post 0.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on VCEL shares. Wall Street Zen cut Vericel from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 14th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $64.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Vericel from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Leerink Partners restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vericel currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $52.50.

Vericel Profile

Vericel Corporation is a biotechnology company specializing in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of cell-based therapies for patients with severe diseases and conditions. The company's expertise lies in regenerative medicine, where it harnesses the power of autologous cell processing to create products designed to restore function and promote healing in damaged tissues.

Vericel currently markets two FDA-approved therapies. MACI® (autologous cultured chondrocytes on porcine collagen membrane) is indicated for the repair of symptomatic cartilage defects of the knee in adult patients.

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