Portside Wealth Group LLC Buys New Position in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Portside Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 5,955 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VCEL. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vericel by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,357 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $129,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in shares of Vericel by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 7,952 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Vericel by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 6,111 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Vericel by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,900 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,312,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Vericel by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 13,803 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $758,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period.

Insider Activity at Vericel

In related news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 24,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total transaction of $1,040,966.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 260,354 shares in the company, valued at $10,906,229.06. This represents a 8.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VCEL. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Vericel from $61.00 to $51.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $67.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vericel from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vericel presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.14.

Vericel Stock Performance

VCEL opened at $43.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 723.45 and a beta of 1.31. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $41.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.30. Vericel Co. has a twelve month low of $37.39 and a twelve month high of $63.00.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.14). Vericel had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 1.48%. The firm had revenue of $52.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $53.86 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.08) earnings per share. Vericel's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vericel Co. will post 0.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vericel Company 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.

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