Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Acquires New Shares in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $291,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI purchased a new stake in Vericel in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vericel by 511.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,265 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Vericel by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,357 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Vericel by 826.6% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,511 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 2,240 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in Vericel by 82.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,707 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $149,000 after buying an additional 1,224 shares in the last quarter.

Vericel Stock Down 0.3%

Vericel stock opened at $41.73 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.27. Vericel Co. has a twelve month low of $37.39 and a twelve month high of $63.00. The company has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of 695.62 and a beta of 1.31.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $52.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $53.86 million. Vericel had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 1.48%. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.08) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vericel Co. will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on VCEL shares. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, February 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Vericel from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.86.

Insider Transactions at Vericel

In other Vericel news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 24,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total value of $1,040,966.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 260,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,906,229.06. This trade represents a 8.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Vericel Profile

Vericel Corporation, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and distribution of cellular therapies for sports medicine and severe burn care markets in North America. The company markets autologous cell therapy products comprising MACI, an autologous cultured chondrocytes on porcine collagen membrane for the repair of symptomatic, and single or multiple full-thickness cartilage defects of the knee; Epicel, a permanent skin replacement humanitarian use device for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with deep-dermal or full-thickness burns; and NexoBrid, a biological orphan product for eschar removal in adults with deep partial-thickness and/or full-thickness thermal burns.