UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Lowers Position in Vericel Corporation $VCEL

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC decreased its stake in shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 83,743 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 16,328 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Vericel were worth $3,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Vericel by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,886 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Vericel by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,937 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Vericel by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 45,404 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,932,000 after buying an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,698 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in Vericel by 2.2% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 23,079 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,027,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period.

Insider Activity

In other Vericel news, CFO Joseph Anthony Mara, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.75, for a total value of $223,750.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 16,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,402.75. This trade represents a 23.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jonathan Siegal sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.90, for a total value of $220,050.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,714.20. The trade was a 80.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 52,232 shares of company stock valued at $2,304,217 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Vericel Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCEL opened at $38.99 on Thursday. Vericel Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $28.95 and a fifty-two week high of $49.32. The stock has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of 82.96 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $44.39 and a 200-day moving average of $38.57.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.01) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vericel Corporation will post 0.54 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on VCEL. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $60.00 target price on Vericel in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Truist Financial reissued 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Vericel from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vericel currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.40.

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.