Federated Hermes Inc. Acquires 217,437 Shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 34.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 840,787 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 217,437 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 1.73% of Vericel worth $38,575,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nicholas Investment Partners LP bought a new position in Vericel during the second quarter worth about $5,227,000. 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. 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 valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 51.5% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 611,146 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,039,000 after acquiring an additional 207,714 shares during the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.40, for a total value of $899,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,356,161.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 6,772 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.02, for a total value of $304,875.44. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,924.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.40, for a total transaction of $899,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,356,161.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,291 shares of company stock valued at $2,329,169 in the last three months. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VCEL. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group initiated 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. BTIG Research dropped their price objective on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on shares of Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group initiated 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.75.

Vericel Trading Up 3.6 %

VCEL opened at $45.87 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -4,582.42 and a beta of 1.67. Vericel Co. has a 12 month low of $30.18 and a 12 month high of $54.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.39.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.10). The business had revenue of $52.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.59 million. Vericel had a net margin of 0.37% and a return on equity of 0.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.11) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vericel Co. will post 0.12 EPS for the current fiscal 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.