Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its position in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 412,967 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 36,127 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.84% of Vericel worth $17,448,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vericel by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,104,386 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $46,660,000 after purchasing an additional 420,078 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its position in Vericel by 37.4% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,291,720 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $54,575,000 after purchasing an additional 351,550 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Vericel by 34.9% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 840,787 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $38,575,000 after purchasing an additional 217,437 shares during the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Vericel by 54.8% during the third quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 590,145 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $24,934,000 after acquiring an additional 209,009 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Vericel by 51.5% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 611,146 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $28,039,000 after acquiring an additional 207,714 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vericel news, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $443,850. This trade represents a 34.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 ninety days, insiders sold 29,166 shares of company stock worth $1,200,764. 5.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on VCEL shares. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, November 8th. TD Cowen raised 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. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Vericel from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on Vericel in a research report on Friday, August 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. One 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 stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.14.

Vericel Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ VCEL traded up $0.37 during trading on Thursday, hitting $57.63. The company had a trading volume of 12,547 shares, compared to its average volume of 428,516. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 954.49 and a beta of 1.66. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.87. Vericel Co. has a fifty-two week low of $32.31 and a fifty-two week high of $58.18.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts' expectations of $55.32 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Vericel Co. will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

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.