US Bancorp DE Sells 1,838 Shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

US Bancorp DE decreased its position in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 37.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,069 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,838 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Vericel were worth $130,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VCEL. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its holdings in Vericel by 37.4% during the third 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 last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Vericel by 65.2% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,430 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 3,721 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC grew its holdings in Vericel by 8.0% during the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 7,400 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 22.2% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,773 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vericel by 4,126.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 634 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 619 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,142,373.06. This represents a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $241,252.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $454,960. The trade was a 34.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,166 shares of company stock valued at $1,200,764. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VCEL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Stephens raised their price target on Vericel from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on Vericel in a research report on Friday, August 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.71.

Vericel Stock Down 0.5 %

Vericel stock opened at $52.48 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $44.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.66. The company has a market cap of $2.59 billion, a PE ratio of 886.31 and a beta of 1.66. Vericel Co. has a twelve month low of $32.31 and a twelve month high of $57.81.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vericel Co. will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.