Nuveen LLC Buys Shares of 128,899 Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC has acquired a new stake in Vericel Corporation by purchasing 128,899 shares valued at approximately $5.75 million.
• Various institutional investors, including Mariner LLC and Dimensional Fund Advisors, have also increased their stakes in Vericel, indicating growing institutional confidence.
• Vericel's stock has recently been downgraded from a "hold" to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen, although it still maintains a consensus rating of "Buy" with an average target price of $60.33.

Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 128,899 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $5,751,000. Nuveen LLC owned approximately 0.26% of Vericel at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Vericel by 1.6% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,273,494 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $101,443,000 after acquiring an additional 35,345 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in Vericel by 1.6% during the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,476,718 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $65,891,000 after acquiring an additional 22,579 shares in the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Vericel by 12.4% during the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,432,434 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $63,915,000 after acquiring an additional 158,470 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Vericel by 24.2% during the first quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,365,744 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $60,939,000 after acquiring an additional 265,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Vericel by 119.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,288,921 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $70,775,000 after acquiring an additional 701,064 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Vericel Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ VCEL traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $36.36. The stock had a trading volume of 331,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 531,060. The business's 50 day moving average is $38.39 and its 200-day moving average is $42.26. The company has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 303.03 and a beta of 1.33. Vericel Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.09 and a 52 week high of $63.00.

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

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.