UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Grows Stock Position in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 112,837 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 16,466 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned approximately 0.23% of Vericel worth $6,196,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 145.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 111,527 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $4,712,000 after purchasing an additional 66,082 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Vericel by 82.5% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,707 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $149,000 after buying an additional 1,224 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Vericel by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,466 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $575,000 after buying an additional 1,036 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Vericel during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $261,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in Vericel by 0.8% during 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 last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Vericel Stock Performance

Shares of VCEL stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $43.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 239,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 418,173. The stock has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 721.79 and a beta of 1.33. Vericel Co. has a 52-week low of $37.39 and a 52-week high of $63.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $41.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.30.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.23) EPS 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 business had revenue of $52.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $53.86 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.08) earnings per share. Vericel's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Vericel Co. will post 0.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vericel

In other news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 24,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The stock was 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 directly owns 260,354 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,906,229.06. This represents a 8.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

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.