Freestone Grove Partners LP Makes New $755,000 Investment in Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 16,968 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $755,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VCEL. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Vericel during the 2nd quarter valued at about $360,023,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vericel in the second quarter worth about $88,662,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Vericel during the 2nd quarter valued at about $24,463,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vericel in the second quarter valued at approximately $17,723,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter.

Vericel Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ VCEL opened at $40.95 on Friday. Vericel Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.95 and a 12-month high of $49.32. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $44.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a PE ratio of 87.13 and a beta of 1.06.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.07. Vericel had a net margin of 7.91% and a return on equity of 6.91%. 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 prior year, the company posted ($0.01) earnings per share. Vericel’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vericel Corporation will post 0.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $450,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 75,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,408,885. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.21, for a total transaction of $603,150.00. Following the sale, the insider directly 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 52,232 shares of company stock worth $2,304,217. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VCEL. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. TD Cowen upped their price objective 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. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective (up from $54.00) on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $60.00 price target on Vericel in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vericel presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.40.

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.