Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 7,222 Shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 270,154 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,222 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.54% of Vericel worth $12,054,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VCEL. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Vericel in the 4th quarter valued at about $57,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vericel by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,357 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake 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. Xponance Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vericel in the 4th quarter valued at about $214,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in Vericel during the 4th quarter valued at about $215,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on VCEL shares. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Vericel from $61.00 to $51.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $67.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Vericel from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vericel currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.14.

Vericel Stock Down 3.2%

Vericel stock opened at $39.93 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,331.44 and a beta of 1.32. The stock's 50 day moving average is $41.87 and its 200 day moving average is $47.43. Vericel Corporation has a twelve month low of $37.39 and a twelve month high of $63.00.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $52.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $53.86 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 1.09% and a net margin of 1.25%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.08) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vericel Corporation will post 0.14 EPS 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.

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