William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 123,021 Shares of Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management LLC sold 123,021 shares of Vericel Corporation, reducing its holdings to 1,162,065 shares, which is a decrease of 9.6% during the second quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC, increased their stakes in Vericel significantly, with Allspring raising its investment by 244.6%.
• Analysts have mixed views on Vericel's stock, with Canaccord Genuity lowering its target price to $58.00 while Zacks Research upgraded it to a "strong-buy," reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

William Blair Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) by 9.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,162,065 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 123,021 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 2.31% of Vericel worth $49,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VCEL. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Vericel by 244.6% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 859,486 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $35,755,000 after acquiring an additional 610,045 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Vericel by 24.2% in the first quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,365,744 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $60,939,000 after acquiring an additional 265,956 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its stake in Vericel by 18.0% in the second quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,742,324 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $74,136,000 after acquiring an additional 265,606 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc bought a new stake in Vericel in the second quarter valued at about $8,902,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Vericel by 12.4% in the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,432,434 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $63,915,000 after acquiring an additional 158,470 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price 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. BTIG Research cut shares of Vericel from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Vericel from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Zacks Research raised shares of Vericel from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Vericel in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.40.

Vericel Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of VCEL stock opened at $35.32 on Friday. Vericel Corporation has a 1 year low of $29.24 and a 1 year high of $63.00. The firm's 50 day moving average is $33.69 and its 200-day moving average is $38.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 294.36 and a beta of 1.39.

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, equities research analysts forecast that Vericel Corporation will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vericel Company 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.

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