Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Lowers Stake in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP lessened its holdings in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 34.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,823 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 7,788 shares during the period. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP’s holdings in Vericel were worth $626,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,484 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Vericel by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,773 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. 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. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Vericel by 48.1% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,247 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of Vericel by 3.3% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,866 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VCEL. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, August 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. Stephens raised their target price on Vericel from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.14.

Insider Activity at Vericel

In related news, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.35, for a total value of $235,361.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $443,850. The trade was a 34.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 26,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,595,700. This represents a 8.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,666 shares of company stock valued at $1,350,764 over the last three months. 5.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vericel Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of VCEL stock opened at $58.62 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 977.00 and a beta of 1.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $46.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.07. Vericel Co. has a 12 month low of $32.31 and a 12 month high of $61.49.

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

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.