BNP Paribas Financial Markets Reduces Stock Holdings in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets trimmed its position in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) by 50.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 31,901 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 32,592 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.06% of Vericel worth $1,348,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VCEL. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 319.0% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 662 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Vericel by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,881 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $545,000 after buying an additional 779 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Vericel by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,484 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in shares of Vericel in the second quarter valued at about $465,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 3.8% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 24,500 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,124,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VCEL has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Vericel from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Stephens upgraded Vericel to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.71.

Vericel Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCEL traded up $1.20 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $57.56. 339,765 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 427,891. The business's fifty day moving average is $48.94 and its 200 day moving average is $47.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 959.49 and a beta of 1.70. Vericel Co. has a fifty-two week low of $32.31 and a fifty-two week high of $61.49.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $57.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.32 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 1.48% and a net margin of 1.56%. On average, analysts predict that Vericel Co. will post 0.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vericel

In related news, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.35, for a total value of $235,361.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $443,850. This represents a 34.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.38, for a total transaction of $724,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,937 shares in the company, valued at $9,142,373.06. This represents a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 44,266 shares of company stock valued at $2,090,636. 7.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.