Madison Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 50,116 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,230,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vericel during the 2nd quarter worth $360,023,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Vericel by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,584,006 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $129,060,000 after purchasing an additional 68,368 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Vericel by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,163,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $113,933,000 after purchasing an additional 356,680 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Vericel by 9.3% during the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,463,312 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $79,245,000 after purchasing an additional 208,750 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,222,107 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,018,000 after purchasing an additional 11,178 shares during the last quarter.

Vericel Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $42.11 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $44.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.10. Vericel Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.95 and a 12-month high of $49.32. The company has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.60 and a beta of 1.06.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.07. The company had revenue of $77.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.70 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 6.91% and a net margin of 7.91%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.01) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vericel Corporation will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on VCEL shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price objective (up from $54.00) on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, July 31st. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Vericel from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vericel from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned 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 target price of $58.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jonathan Siegal sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.90, for a total value of $220,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,714.20. This represents a 80.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.21, for a total value of $603,150.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,225.87. The trade was a 90.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 52,232 shares of company stock valued at $2,304,217 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

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.