First Trust Advisors LP Lowers Holdings in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its position in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) by 83.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,142 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 26,776 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in Vericel were worth $282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Vericel by 145.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 111,527 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $4,712,000 after purchasing an additional 66,082 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Vericel by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 33,543 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,412,000 after buying an additional 4,117 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co bought a new position in Vericel during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $356,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vericel in the fourth quarter worth approximately $280,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Vericel by 826.6% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,511 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,240 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $51.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Vericel from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Vericel from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.86.

Insider Transactions at Vericel

In other news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 24,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total value 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 approximately $10,906,229.06. This represents a 8.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Vericel Price Performance

NASDAQ:VCEL traded up $0.99 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $43.64. The stock had a trading volume of 558,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 405,916. Vericel Co. has a 1-year low of $37.39 and a 1-year high of $63.00. The company has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 727.45 and a beta of 1.31. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $43.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.26.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.14). The firm 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 business's revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.08) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vericel Co. will post 0.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.