PDT Partners LLC Has $2.20 Million Position in Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Key Points

• PDT Partners LLC increased its stake in Vericel Corporation by 42.1%, owning 49,325 shares worth approximately $2.2 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• The stock has a current consensus rating of "Buy" from analysts, with a price target averaging $60.40.
• Vericel reported a 20.1% increase in revenue year-over-year for the last quarter, with earnings exceeding consensus expectations.

PDT Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) by 42.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,325 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 14,618 shares during the quarter. PDT Partners LLC owned 0.10% of Vericel worth $2,201,000 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. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Vericel by 119.3% during the fourth 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. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Vericel by 24.2% during the first quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,365,744 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $60,939,000 after buying an additional 265,956 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Vericel by 12.4% during the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,432,434 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $63,915,000 after buying an additional 158,470 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Vericel during the first quarter worth about $5,751,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Vericel by 5,916.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 129,175 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $5,764,000 after buying an additional 127,028 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on VCEL shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vericel from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research note 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 on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.40.

Vericel Price Performance

Shares of VCEL stock traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $34.05. 653,081 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 543,747. Vericel Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.09 and a fifty-two week high of $63.00. The stock's fifty day moving average is $37.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.68. The company has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 283.77 and a beta of 1.33.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.03. Vericel had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 2.47%. The company had revenue of $63.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.61 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.10) earnings per share. Vericel's quarterly revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Vericel Corporation will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current 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.