Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Buys 43,848 Shares of Vericel Corporation $VCEL

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 2,152.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,885 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,848 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. owned approximately 0.09% of Vericel worth $1,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VCEL. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 51.3% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 805 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vericel in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 116.5% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 970 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,458 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 135.6% in the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 3,332 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 1,918 shares during the period.

Vericel Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $34.27 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.98. Vericel Corporation has a 1-year low of $28.95 and a 1-year high of $45.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of 81.60 and a beta of 1.15.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.03. Vericel had a return on equity of 6.41% and a net margin of 7.35%.The business had revenue of $68.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.68 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.23) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 30.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vericel Corporation will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vericel news, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 3,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $121,520.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,460. This trade represents a 4.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on VCEL shares. Leerink Partners reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vericel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Vericel from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.40.

About Vericel

Vericel Corporation is a biotechnology company specializing in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of cell-based therapies for patients with severe diseases and conditions. The company’s expertise lies in regenerative medicine, where it harnesses the power of autologous cell processing to create products designed to restore function and promote healing in damaged tissues.

Vericel currently markets two FDA-approved therapies. MACI® (autologous cultured chondrocytes on porcine collagen membrane) is indicated for the repair of symptomatic cartilage defects of the knee in adult patients.