Renaissance Technologies LLC Purchases Shares of 12,600 Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 12,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $405,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VCEL. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vericel in the first quarter worth about $242,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 31,445 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Vericel by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 371,486 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $16,576,000 after purchasing an additional 44,333 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Vericel by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 123,028 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,490,000 after purchasing an additional 10,191 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in Vericel by 5.1% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 277,253 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $11,797,000 after purchasing an additional 13,422 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VCEL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Vericel from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Vericel from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vericel

In other news, CFO Joseph Anthony Mara, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were 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 directly owned 16,009 shares in the company, valued at $716,402.75. This represents a 23.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jonathan Siegal sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was 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 approximately $52,714.20. This represents a 80.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 52,232 shares of company stock worth $2,304,217 over the last three months. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vericel Price Performance

NASDAQ VCEL opened at $44.26 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.01. The company has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a PE ratio of 94.17 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $77.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.01) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vericel Corporation will post 0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vericel Company 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.