Vericel Corporation $VCEL Shares Purchased by Next Century Growth Investors LLC

Key Points

• Next Century Growth Investors LLC increased its stake in Vericel Corporation by 10.8%, owning approximately 1.16% of the company worth about $25.99 million.
• Vericel reported earnings of ($0.01) EPS, surpassing analyst estimates, with a 20.1% revenue increase year-over-year despite slightly missing expected revenue targets.
• Analysts have varying outlooks on Vericel, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and a price target between $58.00 and $67.00 from different brokerages.

Next Century Growth Investors LLC raised its stake in shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) by 10.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 582,535 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 56,719 shares during the quarter. Vericel comprises 2.3% of Next Century Growth Investors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Next Century Growth Investors LLC owned approximately 1.16% of Vericel worth $25,993,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 270,154 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $12,054,000 after acquiring an additional 7,222 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 204,510 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $9,125,000 after acquiring an additional 27,526 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 34.8% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 65,384 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,917,000 after acquiring an additional 5,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,193,759 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $53,266,000 after acquiring an additional 71,386 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on VCEL shares. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $67.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a report on Monday, June 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vericel from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vericel has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $60.40.

Vericel Trading Down 2.2%

VCEL traded down $0.80 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $35.56. 114,929 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 499,893. The company has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 296.34 and a beta of 1.33. Vericel Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.09 and a 52-week high of $63.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.12.

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

About Vericel

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.