Lisanti Capital Growth LLC Buys New Shares in Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Lisanti Capital Growth LLC bought a new position in shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 120,380 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,356,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCEL. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vericel in the 2nd quarter valued at about $360,023,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vericel during the 2nd quarter worth about $24,463,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Vericel by 12.7% in the 4th 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 raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $56,931,000 after purchasing an additional 290,795 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vericel by 133.6% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 497,167 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $17,903,000 after purchasing an additional 284,305 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vericel

In other Vericel news, insider Jonathan Siegal sold 4,500 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.90, for a total value of $220,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,078 shares in the company, valued at $52,714.20. The trade was a 80.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 10,000 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $450,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 75,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,408,885. This trade represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 52,232 shares of company stock valued at $2,304,217. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VCEL shares. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Vericel from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $60.00 price objective on Vericel in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Vericel from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 target price (up from $54.00) on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vericel has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.40.

Vericel Price Performance

VCEL opened at $43.57 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.06. Vericel Corporation has a 1 year low of $28.95 and a 1 year high of $49.32. The company has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of 92.70 and a beta of 1.06.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.04 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.01) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Vericel Corporation will post 0.54 earnings per share 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.