Advisors Asset Management Inc. Has $714,000 Stake in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 4.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 16,890 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 644 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Vericel were worth $714,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Vericel by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,413,442 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $177,567,000 after purchasing an additional 39,349 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 1.7% in the third quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,075,730 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $87,700,000 after acquiring an additional 34,360 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,291,720 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $54,575,000 after acquiring an additional 351,550 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its position in Vericel by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,104,386 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $46,660,000 after acquiring an additional 420,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its holdings in Vericel by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,031,940 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $47,346,000 after purchasing an additional 10,245 shares in the last quarter.

Vericel Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $58.75 on Wednesday. Vericel Co. has a 12-month low of $32.31 and a 12-month high of $61.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 979.17 and a beta of 1.66.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.03. The firm 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, equities research analysts expect that Vericel Co. will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vericel

In other Vericel news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $9,142,373.06. This represents a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.35, for a total value of $235,361.55. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at $443,850. This trade represents a 34.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,666 shares of company stock valued at $1,350,764. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VCEL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stephens increased their target price on Vericel from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, August 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vericel has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.71.

Vericel 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.