GW&K Investment Management LLC Buys 290,795 Shares of Vericel Corporation $VCEL

GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 22.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,580,967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 290,795 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Vericel were worth $56,931,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VCEL. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Vericel by 90.3% in the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,210,929 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $69,578,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048,864 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc raised its position in shares of Vericel by 159.5% in the 3rd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 542,866 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $17,084,000 after acquiring an additional 333,649 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position 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 worth $17,903,000 after acquiring an additional 284,305 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Vericel in the 3rd quarter worth $8,409,000. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. raised its position in shares of Vericel by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,664,578 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,941,000 after acquiring an additional 169,971 shares in the last quarter.

Vericel Trading Up 3.5%

NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $37.03 on Wednesday. Vericel Corporation has a 12 month low of $28.95 and a 12 month high of $45.97. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.68. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.17 and a beta of 1.12.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $68.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.68 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 6.41% and a net margin of 7.35%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 30.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.23) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Vericel Corporation will post 0.49 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on VCEL shares. Leerink Partners reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Vericel from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vericel

In other news, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 3,472 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $121,520.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,460. This represents a 4.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

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.