Legato Capital Management LLC Sells 8,144 Shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Legato Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 58.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,720 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 8,144 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Vericel were worth $314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Vericel by 214.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 587,857 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,837,000 after purchasing an additional 400,667 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Vericel by 40.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 28,073 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,186,000 after buying an additional 8,020 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,154,053 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,768,000 after acquiring an additional 9,613 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vericel during the 3rd quarter valued at $563,000. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in Vericel by 4.6% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,079,048 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,590,000 after acquiring an additional 47,108 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Vericel

In other news, Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.50, for a total value of $156,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,662,187.50. This represents a 8.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.72, for a total value of $587,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,427,545.12. This represents a 14.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,600 shares of company stock valued at $1,356,072 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VCEL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Vericel from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BTIG Research increased their price target on Vericel from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Vericel from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vericel has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.14.

Vericel Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Vericel stock opened at $57.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 951.66 and a beta of 1.72. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.30. Vericel Co. has a 12-month low of $39.12 and a 12-month high of $63.00.

Vericel Company 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.