Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Has $8.05 Million Position in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) by 98.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 226,015 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 112,169 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned 0.47% of Vericel worth $8,048,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of Vericel during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in Vericel by 174.3% in the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,668 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Vericel in the 2nd quarter valued at $73,000. State of Wyoming raised its holdings in Vericel by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 3,025 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Vericel by 50.8% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,486 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 1,175 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on VCEL shares. TheStreet upgraded Vericel from a "d+" rating to a "c-" rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, HC Wainwright upped their price target on shares of Vericel from $46.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.40.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Sean C. Flynn sold 8,115 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.33, for a total value of $367,852.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 167 shares in the company, valued at $7,570.11. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Sean C. Flynn sold 8,115 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.33, for a total transaction of $367,852.95. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 167 shares in the company, valued at $7,570.11. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.67, for a total transaction of $781,725.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 194,870 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,704,842.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 64,767 shares of company stock worth $2,896,306 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Vericel Trading Down 0.3 %

VCEL traded down $0.12 on Friday, hitting $43.74. 521,989 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 554,959. The firm has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a PE ratio of -480.33 and a beta of 1.71. Vericel Co. has a twelve month low of $29.24 and a twelve month high of $53.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $47.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.30.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $65.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.28 million. Vericel had a negative net margin of 1.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.55%. Vericel's quarterly revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.12 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Vericel Co. will post 0.09 EPS for the current 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.