Madison Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 50,116 Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Key Points

• Madison Asset Management acquired 50,116 Vericel shares during the second quarter, valued at approximately $2.23 million, while other major institutions—including BlackRock and TimesSquare Capital—also established or increased positions.
• Vericel insiders sold 52,232 shares worth approximately $2.30 million over the past 90 days, including significant sales by CFO Joseph Mara and insider Sean Flynn.
• Vericel reported quarterly revenue of $77.46 million and EPS of $0.04, beating analyst estimates, while revenue increased 22.5% year over year. Analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $58.40.

Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 50,116 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,230,000. Madison Asset Management LLC owned about 0.10% of Vericel as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VCEL. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vericel during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $360,023,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vericel in the second quarter valued at $24,463,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Vericel by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,163,922 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $113,933,000 after acquiring an additional 356,680 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Vericel by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,580,967 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $56,931,000 after acquiring an additional 290,795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Vericel by 133.6% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 497,167 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $17,903,000 after acquiring an additional 284,305 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In other Vericel news, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 15,000 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.64, for a total transaction of $684,600.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,169.08. This represents a 90.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 52,232 shares of company stock worth $2,304,217 in the last 90 days. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vericel Stock Performance

Vericel stock opened at $42.11 on Friday. Vericel Corporation has a 1 year low of $28.95 and a 1 year high of $49.32. The firm's 50-day moving average is $44.53 and its 200-day moving average is $38.10. The company has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.60 and a beta of 1.06.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.07. The business had revenue of $77.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.70 million. Vericel had a net margin of 7.91% and a return on equity of 6.91%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.01) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Vericel Corporation will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Vericel from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings raised Vericel from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $58.00 price objective (up from $54.00) on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, July 31st. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Vericel from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.40.

About Vericel

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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