Vericel Corporation $VCEL Stock Position Reduced by Truist Financial Corp

Key Points

• Truist Financial cut its Vericel stake by 59.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 37,035 shares and leaving it with 24,763 shares worth about $892,000.
• Vericel’s latest quarterly results topped expectations, with EPS of -$0.12 versus the expected -$0.15 and revenue of $68.43 million, up 30.1% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but constructive overall: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating, though some firms recently trimmed price targets or downgraded the shares.

Truist Financial Corp lessened its position in shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) by 59.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,763 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 37,035 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp's holdings in Vericel were worth $892,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VCEL. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vericel during the 1st quarter worth approximately $242,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Vericel by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 31,445 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Vericel by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 371,486 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $16,576,000 after purchasing an additional 44,333 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Vericel by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 123,028 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $5,490,000 after purchasing an additional 10,191 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in shares of Vericel by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 277,253 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $11,797,000 after purchasing an additional 13,422 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VCEL shares. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings cut Vericel from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Leerink Partners reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $64.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Vericel from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $55.40.

Vericel Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCEL opened at $33.03 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $33.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.06. The firm has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.64 and a beta of 1.15. Vericel Corporation has a 1 year low of $28.95 and a 1 year high of $45.97.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $68.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.68 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 6.41% and a net margin of 7.35%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 30.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.23) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Vericel Corporation will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vericel

In other Vericel news, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 3,472 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $121,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,556 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,644,460. This trade represents a 4.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

About Vericel

Vericel Corporation is a biotechnology company specializing in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of cell-based therapies for patients with severe diseases and conditions. The company's expertise lies in regenerative medicine, where it harnesses the power of autologous cell processing to create products designed to restore function and promote healing in damaged tissues.

Vericel currently markets two FDA-approved therapies. MACI® (autologous cultured chondrocytes on porcine collagen membrane) is indicated for the repair of symptomatic cartilage defects of the knee in adult patients.

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