State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Makes New $1.83 Million Investment in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new position in shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 39,791 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,826,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned 0.08% of Vericel as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PFG Investments LLC raised its position in Vericel by 6.2% during the second quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,850 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 3.3% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,866 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 51.5% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 611,146 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,039,000 after buying an additional 207,714 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 1.6% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 144,572 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,633,000 after buying an additional 2,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 1.0% during the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,031,940 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,346,000 after buying an additional 10,245 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VCEL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, August 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, August 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, BTIG Research dropped their price objective on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vericel

In other news, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.18, for a total transaction of $782,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,891.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.18, for a total transaction of $782,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,891.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.40, for a total transaction of $899,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,356,161.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,045 shares of company stock valued at $1,956,725 over the last 90 days. 5.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vericel Price Performance

NASDAQ VCEL opened at $46.37 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $48.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.44. Vericel Co. has a 12 month low of $30.18 and a 12 month high of $54.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -4,637.00 and a beta of 1.67.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10). Vericel had a net margin of 0.37% and a return on equity of 0.35%. The company had revenue of $52.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.59 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.11) earnings per share. Vericel’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vericel Co. will post 0.12 EPS for the current year.

About Vericel

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.