The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases New Stake in Vericel Corporation $VCEL

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 26,032 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,158,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VCEL. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Vericel by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,886 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in Vericel by 13.7% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,937 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $125,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Vericel by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 45,404 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,932,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Vericel by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,698 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Vericel by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 23,079 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,027,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vericel news, CFO Joseph Anthony Mara, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 16,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,402.75. This trade represents a 23.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jonathan Hopper sold 10,000 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $450,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,408,885. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 52,232 shares of company stock valued at $2,304,217. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Vericel Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ VCEL opened at $40.19 on Friday. Vericel Corporation has a 1 year low of $28.95 and a 1 year high of $49.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.51. The company has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.51 and a beta of 1.04.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.04 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $72.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.01) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Vericel Corporation will post 0.54 EPS for the current fiscal 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.