Vericel Corporation $VCEL Shares Purchased by Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd.

Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 44.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 50,058 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,500 shares during the quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. owned 0.10% of Vericel worth $1,803,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in Vericel by 51.3% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 805 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Vericel by 1.9% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,882 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in shares of Vericel by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 25,744 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $927,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vericel by 13.7% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,937 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Vericel by 0.8% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 45,404 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,932,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vericel

In other news, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 3,472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $121,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 75,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,644,460. This represents a 4.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 7.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vericel Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCEL opened at $36.30 on Friday. Vericel Corporation has a 1-year low of $28.95 and a 1-year high of $45.97. The business has a 50-day moving average of $34.17 and a 200-day moving average of $35.75. The company has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.43 and a beta of 1.12.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.03. Vericel had a return on equity of 6.41% and a net margin of 7.35%.The company had revenue of $68.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.68 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.23) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 30.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Vericel Corporation will post 0.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on VCEL shares. Leerink Partners reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Vericel from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vericel presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.40.

About Vericel

Vericel Corporation is a biotechnology company specializing in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of cell-based therapies for patients with severe diseases and conditions. The company’s expertise lies in regenerative medicine, where it harnesses the power of autologous cell processing to create products designed to restore function and promote healing in damaged tissues.

Vericel currently markets two FDA-approved therapies. MACI® (autologous cultured chondrocytes on porcine collagen membrane) is indicated for the repair of symptomatic cartilage defects of the knee in adult patients.