GW&K Investment Management LLC Sells 124,377 Shares of Vericel Corporation $VCEL

GW&K Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 8.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,290,172 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 124,377 shares during the quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Vericel were worth $40,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in Vericel by 51.3% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 805 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of Vericel by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,882 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Vericel by 13.7% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,937 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $125,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 0.8% in the 2nd 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. Finally, EFG Asset Management North America Corp. increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 138,775 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,367,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on VCEL. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vericel in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Vericel from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Zacks Research cut shares of Vericel from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on shares of Vericel from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.50.

Vericel Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ VCEL opened at $34.96 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $36.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.10. The firm has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a PE ratio of 112.77 and a beta of 1.22. Vericel Corporation has a 1-year low of $29.24 and a 1-year high of $51.93.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.45. The firm had revenue of $92.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.66 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 5.17% and a net margin of 5.98%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Vericel Corporation will post 0.14 EPS 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.