Ieq Capital LLC Purchases New Holdings in Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 13,209 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $588,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCEL. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in Vericel in the 2nd quarter valued at $60,000. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vericel during the 2nd quarter valued at $693,000. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Vericel during the 2nd quarter worth $208,000. Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vericel during the 2nd quarter worth $2,230,000. Finally, Lisanti Capital Growth LLC bought a new position in shares of Vericel in the second quarter worth $5,356,000.

Insider Activity at Vericel

In related news, insider Jonathan Siegal sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.90, for a total transaction of $220,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,078 shares in the company, valued at $52,714.20. This represents a 80.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $450,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,408,885. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,232 shares of company stock valued at $2,304,217. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VCEL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Vericel from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $58.00 target price (up from $54.00) on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $60.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.40.

Vericel Stock Performance

Vericel stock opened at $40.95 on Friday. Vericel Corporation has a 52 week low of $28.95 and a 52 week high of $49.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.13 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $44.91 and a 200-day moving average of $38.33.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.07. Vericel had a return on equity of 6.91% and a net margin of 7.91%.The business had revenue of $77.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.70 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.01) earnings per share. Vericel’s revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Vericel Corporation will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Vericel Profile

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.