Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Stock Position Lifted by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) by 66.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,258,416 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 501,736 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 2.55% of Vericel worth $69,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Vericel by 214.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 587,857 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $24,837,000 after acquiring an additional 400,667 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 40.0% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 28,073 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,186,000 after buying an additional 8,020 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Vericel by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,154,053 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $48,768,000 after buying an additional 9,613 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Vericel by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,900 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,312,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vericel during the third quarter worth approximately $563,000.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VCEL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com raised Vericel from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $61.00 price objective (down previously from $67.00) on shares of Vericel in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Vericel from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One 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 currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 2,500 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.50, for a total transaction of $156,250.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 26,595 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,662,187.50. The trade was a 8.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 26,592 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.78, for a total transaction of $1,217,381.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 259,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,902,662.66. The trade was a 9.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 34,092 shares of company stock worth $1,683,582. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vericel Trading Down 1.9 %

VCEL traded down $0.92 during trading on Friday, hitting $46.26. 830,229 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 378,140. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $54.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.72. Vericel Co. has a 1 year low of $39.12 and a 1 year high of $63.00. The firm has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 771.13 and a beta of 1.78.

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.