Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 34,692 Shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Renaissance Technologies LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 25.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 99,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 34,692 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.21% of Vericel worth $4,579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Vericel by 3.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 661,018 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $30,329,000 after purchasing an additional 19,803 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 158,205 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,258,000 after buying an additional 6,873 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 19.1% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,078 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $738,000 after buying an additional 2,584 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vericel by 7.9% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 908,141 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $41,666,000 after buying an additional 66,464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scholtz & Company LLC acquired a new position in Vericel during the second quarter worth $1,357,000.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vericel

In related news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.40, for a total value of $899,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,937 shares in the company, valued at $11,356,161.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.40, for a total value of $899,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,356,161.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joseph Anthony Mara, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $721,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,045 shares of company stock valued at $1,956,725 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Vericel Stock Performance

VCEL opened at $43.19 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $47.77 and a 200-day moving average of $47.39. The company has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -4,319.00 and a beta of 1.67. Vericel Co. has a fifty-two week low of $30.18 and a fifty-two week high of $54.10.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VCEL. BTIG Research decreased 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. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on Vericel in a research report on Friday, August 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Stephens lifted their target price on Vericel from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Vericel from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.75.

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.