Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) saw a large decrease in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,720,000 shares, a decrease of 21.8% from the June 30th total of 3,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 367,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.4 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.12, for a total value of $772,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,739,578.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 1,474 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total value of $67,568.16. Following the sale, the insider now owns 487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,324.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.12, for a total transaction of $772,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,752 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,739,578.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 63,791 shares of company stock worth $3,101,269. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vericel

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VCEL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Vericel by 1.2% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew 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 valued at $83,326,000 after acquiring an additional 109,215 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in Vericel by 10.9% in the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,021,695 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $53,149,000 after acquiring an additional 100,797 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 841,677 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $43,784,000 after buying an additional 6,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 509.1% during the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 836,481 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $43,514,000 after buying an additional 699,147 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on VCEL. BTIG Research decreased their price objective on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Vericel in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright upped their target price on shares of Vericel from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.33.

Vericel Price Performance

VCEL stock traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $52.32. 252,450 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 297,505. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $47.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.42. Vericel has a one year low of $30.18 and a one year high of $54.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5,232.00 and a beta of 1.70.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.08) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.03. Vericel had a net margin of 0.22% and a return on equity of 0.21%. The firm had revenue of $51.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.16) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vericel will post 0.11 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.