Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) by 26.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 251,858 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 91,834 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.52% of Vericel worth $10,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VCEL. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 9.7% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,484 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $114,000 after purchasing 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 increased its position in Vericel by 0.4% during the first 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 period. PFG Investments LLC increased its position in Vericel by 6.2% during the second 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 period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Vericel by 48.1% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,247 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group started 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. Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, August 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen raised their price target on Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. StockNews.com raised Vericel from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on Vericel from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vericel presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.71.

Vericel Stock Performance

VCEL traded up $0.41 on Monday, hitting $52.89. 387,950 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 431,166. The business's fifty day moving average is $44.92 and its 200 day moving average is $46.70. Vericel Co. has a fifty-two week low of $32.31 and a fifty-two week high of $57.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 874.81 and a beta of 1.66.

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

Insider Transactions at Vericel

In other news, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $241,252.88. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at $454,960. This represents a 34.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $724,150.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,937 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,142,373.06. This represents a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,166 shares of company stock valued at $1,200,764 in the last 90 days. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by 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.