Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Shares Acquired by BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its position in shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,079,048 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 47,108 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned approximately 2.20% of Vericel worth $45,590,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VCEL. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Vericel by 4,126.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 634 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 619 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Vericel by 319.0% in 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. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Vericel by 48.1% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,247 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Vericel by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,773 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Vericel during the third quarter valued at $92,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on VCEL shares. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, November 8th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vericel from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on Vericel from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.14.

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 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.35, for a total value of $235,361.55. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $443,850. This represents a 34.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the 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 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,166 shares of company stock valued at $1,200,764. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vericel Stock Performance

Shares of Vericel stock traded up $2.40 on Friday, hitting $59.11. 603,389 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 431,699. Vericel Co. has a 1 year low of $32.31 and a 1 year high of $60.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a PE ratio of 945.32 and a beta of 1.66.

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

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.