Soleus Capital Management L.P. Purchases Shares of 80,696 Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Soleus Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 80,696 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $4,431,000. Soleus Capital Management L.P. owned about 0.16% of Vericel at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Vericel by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,454,139 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $79,847,000 after buying an additional 162,419 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Vericel by 119.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,288,921 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $70,775,000 after buying an additional 701,064 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Vericel by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,273,964 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $69,953,000 after acquiring an additional 30,180 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 66.3% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,258,416 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $69,100,000 after acquiring an additional 501,736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,166,115 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $64,046,000 after acquiring an additional 12,062 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Vericel

In other news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 24,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total value of $1,040,966.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 260,354 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,906,229.06. The trade was a 8.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen cut Vericel from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Vericel from $61.00 to $51.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Vericel from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.14.

Vericel Stock Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:VCEL traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $41.38. 296,931 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 409,262. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $42.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.05. The company has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 689.78 and a beta of 1.31. Vericel Co. has a 1 year low of $37.39 and a 1 year high of $63.00.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last issued its 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). Vericel had a return on equity of 1.48% and a net margin of 1.56%. The firm had revenue of $52.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $53.86 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.08) EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Vericel Co. will post 0.14 earnings per share 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.