New York State Common Retirement Fund Lowers Stock Holdings in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its stake in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 862,664 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 231,006 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 1.77% of Vericel worth $36,448,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VCEL. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Vericel by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,484 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Vericel by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,773 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Vericel by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 89,500 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $4,656,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC grew its stake in Vericel by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,850 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Vericel by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,866 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.38, for a total value of $724,150.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,142,373.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.38, for a total value of $724,150.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,142,373.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $241,252.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $454,960. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 29,166 shares of company stock worth $1,200,764. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Vericel Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Vericel stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $43.99. 299,660 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 319,545. The business has a 50-day moving average of $44.63 and a 200 day moving average of $46.30. Vericel Co. has a fifty-two week low of $32.28 and a fifty-two week high of $54.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a PE ratio of -4,399,000.00 and a beta of 1.66.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $52.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $52.59 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 0.35% and a net margin of 0.37%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.11) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Vericel Co. will post 0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on Vericel in a research note on Friday, August 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. BTIG Research dropped their price target on Vericel from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen upped their target price on Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Stephens upped 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Vericel has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.71.

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.