JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $19.08 Million Stake in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its holdings in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 451,620 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 28,009 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.91% of Vericel worth $19,081,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 1.6% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 144,572 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,633,000 after buying an additional 2,297 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Vericel by 51.5% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 611,146 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,039,000 after purchasing an additional 207,714 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Vericel by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,866 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 6.2% in the second quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,850 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D bought a new position in shares of Vericel in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,826,000.

Vericel Stock Up 2.5 %

Vericel stock opened at $59.53 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $55.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.50. Vericel Co. has a twelve month low of $34.36 and a twelve month high of $61.49. The company has a market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 992.33 and a beta of 1.72.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $57.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.32 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 1.48% and a net margin of 1.56%. Equities analysts expect that Vericel Co. will post 0.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on VCEL shares. Stephens upgraded Vericel to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. BTIG Research increased their target price on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,142,373.06. This trade represents a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $150,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 26,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,595,700. The trade was a 8.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,433 shares of company stock valued at $1,855,275. 5.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.