Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Shares Bought by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 66.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,258,416 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 501,736 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 2.55% of Vericel worth $69,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI purchased a new position in shares of Vericel during the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Vericel by 511.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,265 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vericel during the third quarter worth approximately $92,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Vericel by 826.6% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,511 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $138,000 after acquiring an additional 2,240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Vericel by 82.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,707 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $149,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Vericel from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective (down from $67.00) on shares of Vericel in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.29.

Vericel Stock Performance

Vericel stock opened at $47.60 on Tuesday. Vericel Co. has a one year low of $39.12 and a one year high of $63.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $55.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.82. The company has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 793.47 and a beta of 1.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vericel

In other news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 26,592 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.78, for a total transaction of $1,217,381.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 259,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,902,662.66. The trade was a 9.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 2,500 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.50, for a total value of $156,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,662,187.50. This trade represents a 8.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 34,092 shares of company stock valued at $1,683,582. 5.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vericel Company 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.