Barclays PLC Purchases 66,082 Shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Barclays PLC raised its position in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 145.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 111,527 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 66,082 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.23% of Vericel worth $4,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in shares of Vericel by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 7,125 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 1,501 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Vericel by 214.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 587,857 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,837,000 after acquiring an additional 400,667 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Vericel by 40.0% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 28,073 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,186,000 after purchasing an additional 8,020 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vericel during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,973,000. Finally, Cynosure Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vericel in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $335,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $150,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 26,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,595,700. This represents a 8.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.38, for a total transaction of $724,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,937 shares in the company, valued at $9,142,373.06. This trade represents a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 44,266 shares of company stock worth $2,090,636 in the last quarter. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vericel Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCEL opened at $56.50 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a PE ratio of 941.82 and a beta of 1.71. Vericel Co. has a 52 week low of $32.31 and a 52 week high of $61.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $51.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.26.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VCEL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Vericel from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.14.

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.