Yousif Capital Management LLC Buys 1,792 Shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its position in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,557 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,792 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC owned about 0.05% of Vericel worth $910,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Vericel by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,339,960 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $83,326,000 after purchasing an additional 109,215 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 1,091,682 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $36,593,000 after acquiring an additional 30,123 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Vericel by 59.5% in the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 855,207 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,667,000 after acquiring an additional 318,916 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Vericel by 39.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 571,298 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $19,150,000 after purchasing an additional 161,652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Vericel by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 560,419 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $19,957,000 after purchasing an additional 97,952 shares during the period.

Vericel Stock Performance

Shares of VCEL stock opened at $47.83 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $47.24 and its 200-day moving average is $41.31. Vericel Co. has a 52 week low of $30.18 and a 52 week high of $53.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a PE ratio of -531.39 and a beta of 1.74.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.08. Vericel had a negative net margin of 1.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.55%. The firm had revenue of $65.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.28 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.12 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Vericel Co. will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Sean C. Flynn sold 8,115 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.33, for a total value of $367,852.95. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,570.11. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Sean C. Flynn sold 8,115 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.33, for a total value of $367,852.95. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,570.11. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.67, for a total transaction of $781,725.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 194,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,704,842.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,267 shares of company stock worth $2,450,996 in the last quarter. Insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VCEL shares. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. TheStreet raised Vericel from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, HC Wainwright upped their target price on shares of Vericel from $46.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vericel presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.40.

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.