KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Invests $538,000 in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,800 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $538,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Vericel by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 42,915 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,356,000 after buying an additional 7,625 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in Vericel by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 14,528 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $798,000 after acquiring an additional 2,948 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vericel in the fourth quarter worth about $214,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vericel by 66.3% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,258,416 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $69,100,000 after purchasing an additional 501,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in shares of Vericel during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $252,000.

Insider Activity at Vericel

In other news, insider Jonathan Siegal sold 3,908 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $242,256.92. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,206 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $74,759.94. This represents a 76.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 26,592 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.78, for a total transaction of $1,217,381.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 259,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,902,662.66. This represents a 9.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,092 shares of company stock worth $1,683,582 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Vericel Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ VCEL traded down $1.30 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $38.60. The company had a trading volume of 878,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 383,889. Vericel Co. has a 12 month low of $37.76 and a 12 month high of $63.00. The stock has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 643.44 and a beta of 1.61. The company's fifty day moving average price is $50.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.53.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on VCEL. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Vericel from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $61.00 target price (down previously from $67.00) on shares of Vericel in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Vericel from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.29.

Vericel Company 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.