Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Shares Sold by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its stake in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) by 5.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 451,620 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 28,009 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.91% of Vericel worth $19,081,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its position in Vericel by 1.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,372,812 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $100,251,000 after acquiring an additional 22,461 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vericel by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,075,730 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $87,700,000 after purchasing an additional 34,360 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,291,720 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $54,575,000 after purchasing an additional 351,550 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vericel by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,154,053 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $48,768,000 after purchasing an additional 9,613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vericel by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,104,386 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $46,660,000 after purchasing an additional 420,078 shares during the last quarter.

Vericel Stock Down 0.1 %

VCEL stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $59.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 465,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 395,659. Vericel Co. has a 52-week low of $36.35 and a 52-week high of $61.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 991.83 and a beta of 1.72.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on VCEL shares. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, November 8th. Stephens raised Vericel to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Vericel from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vericel news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.38, for a total transaction of $724,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,937 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,142,373.06. The trade was a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Paul K. Wotton sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.72, for a total value of $152,672.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,609,045.44. The trade was a 8.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,433 shares of company stock worth $1,855,275. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

About Vericel

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.