BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Acquires 10,245 Shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 1.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,031,940 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,245 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned 2.12% of Vericel worth $47,346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VCEL. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Vericel by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,484 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 86.1% during the first quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 482 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Vericel by 0.4% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 89,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,656,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Vericel by 319.0% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 662 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its position in Vericel by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 41,768 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,173,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares in the last quarter.

Vericel Price Performance

Shares of VCEL opened at $51.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -5,165.00 and a beta of 1.70. Vericel Co. has a 1 year low of $30.18 and a 1 year high of $54.10. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.54.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10). Vericel had a return on equity of 0.35% and a net margin of 0.37%. The firm had revenue of $52.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.59 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.11) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vericel Co. will post 0.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VCEL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BTIG Research lowered their target price on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, August 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. HC Wainwright raised their price target on Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Vericel from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vericel news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.12, for a total transaction of $772,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,752 shares in the company, valued at $9,739,578.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.18, for a total transaction of $782,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,891.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the 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 $9,739,578.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 63,791 shares of company stock valued at $3,101,269 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

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.