Walleye Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 22,578 Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 22,578 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,004,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Vericel by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,163,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $113,933,000 after purchasing an additional 356,680 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Vericel by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,580,967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $56,931,000 after buying an additional 290,795 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Vericel by 133.6% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 497,167 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $17,903,000 after buying an additional 284,305 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in Vericel in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $8,409,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Vericel by 20,888.4% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 256,688 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,258,000 after buying an additional 255,465 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.21, for a total value of $603,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,225.87. This represents a 90.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joseph Anthony Mara, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.75, for a total value of $223,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 16,009 shares in the company, valued at $716,402.75. This trade represents a 23.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 52,232 shares of company stock worth $2,304,217. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen boosted 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 reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $58.00 price target (up from $54.00) on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $60.00 price target on Vericel in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Vericel from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vericel has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.40.

Vericel Trading Down 0.8%

Vericel stock opened at $44.20 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 94.04 and a beta of 1.06. Vericel Corporation has a 1-year low of $28.95 and a 1-year high of $49.32.

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

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.