Wellington Management Group LLP Boosts Stake in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) by 119.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,288,921 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 701,064 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 2.58% of Vericel worth $70,775,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,454,139 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $79,847,000 after acquiring an additional 162,419 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Vericel by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,273,964 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $69,953,000 after purchasing an additional 30,180 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Vericel by 66.3% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,258,416 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $69,100,000 after purchasing an additional 501,736 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Vericel by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,166,115 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $64,046,000 after purchasing an additional 12,062 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Vericel by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,122,373 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $61,630,000 after purchasing an additional 227,675 shares during the period.

Insider Transactions at Vericel

In related news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 26,592 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.78, for a total transaction of $1,217,381.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 259,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,902,662.66. The trade was a 9.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Vericel Price Performance

Shares of VCEL stock traded down $1.31 on Monday, hitting $39.99. The stock had a trading volume of 259,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 413,805. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 667.49 and a beta of 1.31. The company's 50 day moving average price is $41.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.57. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $52.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $53.86 million. Vericel had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 1.48%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.08) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vericel Co. will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on VCEL shares. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $67.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Vericel from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $51.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Vericel from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.14.

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.