OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Makes New Investment in Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Key Points

• OMERS Administration Corp invested approximately $723,000 in 16,200 shares of Vericel Corporation during the first quarter of the year.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed views on Vericel, with ratings ranging from "sell" to "buy," with a consensus price target of $60.40.
• Vericel reported a 20.1% increase in revenue year-over-year, reporting earnings of ($0.01) per share that beat analyst expectations for the last quarter.

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new position in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 16,200 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $723,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Vericel by 2.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 15.6% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 204,510 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $9,125,000 after purchasing an additional 27,526 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 34.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,895 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 10.1% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 65,384 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,917,000 after purchasing an additional 5,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 6.4% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,193,759 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $53,266,000 after purchasing an additional 71,386 shares during the last quarter.

Vericel Stock Up 0.4%

VCEL traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $33.67. 1,129,820 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 508,588. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 280.61 and a beta of 1.33. The company's fifty day moving average price is $37.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.00. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $63.24 million during 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.10) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vericel Corporation will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.