Natixis Advisors LLC Has $1.54 Million Holdings in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Natixis Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 3.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 36,338 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,244 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vericel were worth $1,535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vericel during the 1st quarter valued at $6,538,000. Scholtz & Company LLC acquired a new position in Vericel in the second quarter valued at about $1,357,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Vericel by 6.5% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 420,643 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $19,299,000 after purchasing an additional 25,626 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in Vericel by 21.6% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 7,768 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 1,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. increased its holdings in Vericel by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,291,720 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $54,575,000 after buying an additional 351,550 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VCEL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on Vericel in a research note on Friday, August 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vericel

In other Vericel news, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.35, for a total transaction of $235,361.55. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $443,850. The trade was a 34.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.38, for a total value of $724,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,142,373.06. The trade was a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,666 shares of company stock worth $1,350,764. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vericel Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of VCEL opened at $58.62 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of 977.00 and a beta of 1.66. Vericel Co. has a 12-month low of $32.31 and a 12-month high of $61.49. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.07.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $57.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.32 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 1.48% and a net margin of 1.56%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Vericel Co. will post 0.13 EPS for the current year.

Vericel Company 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.