Northern Trust Corp Buys 44,397 Shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 559,442 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 44,397 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.13% of Vericel worth $30,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VCEL. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI bought a new position in shares of Vericel in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vericel by 511.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,265 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 1,058 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vericel by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,357 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vericel by 826.6% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,511 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 2,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Vericel by 82.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,707 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $149,000 after buying an additional 1,224 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on VCEL. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price 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. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $51.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Vericel from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vericel news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 24,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $10,906,229.06. This trade represents a 8.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Vericel Stock Up 1.5%

VCEL stock traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $42.11. 86,822 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 405,999. Vericel Co. has a 52 week low of $37.39 and a 52 week high of $63.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $42.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a PE ratio of 702.53 and a beta of 1.31.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.14). Vericel had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 1.48%. The firm had revenue of $52.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $53.86 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.08) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research 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.