Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Purchases 112,169 Shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 98.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 226,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 112,169 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.47% of Vericel worth $8,048,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 83.1% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 105,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,014,000 after buying an additional 47,673 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Vericel by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 459,334 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $17,556,000 after acquiring an additional 9,289 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 600.3% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,184 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 5,301 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Vericel during the first quarter worth $589,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vericel by 58.1% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 26,447 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,011,000 after purchasing an additional 9,717 shares during the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vericel news, SVP Sean C. Flynn sold 8,115 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,570.11. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Vericel news, SVP Sean C. Flynn sold 8,115 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,570.11. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.67, for a total transaction of $781,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 194,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,704,842.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,267 shares of company stock worth $2,115,981. Insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright increased their price target on Vericel from $46.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Vericel from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.40.

Vericel Trading Down 1.4 %

Vericel stock traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $43.23. The stock had a trading volume of 152,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 550,053. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $47.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.30. Vericel Co. has a 12 month low of $29.24 and a 12 month high of $53.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -492.33 and a beta of 1.71.

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

Vericel 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.