William Blair Investment Management LLC Buys 1,048,864 Shares of Vericel Corporation $VCEL

William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 90.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,210,929 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,048,864 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 4.37% of Vericel worth $69,578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VCEL. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,240,389 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $52,786,000 after purchasing an additional 38,799 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Vericel by 62.5% during the second quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 997,291 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $42,435,000 after buying an additional 383,498 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Vericel by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 890,509 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $37,891,000 after buying an additional 28,178 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Vericel by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 836,861 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $26,336,000 after buying an additional 93,472 shares during the period. Finally, Next Century Growth Investors LLC raised its position in shares of Vericel by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC now owns 668,649 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,451,000 after buying an additional 86,114 shares in the last quarter.

Vericel Stock Performance

Shares of VCEL opened at $35.68 on Monday. Vericel Corporation has a 52 week low of $29.24 and a 52 week high of $52.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.10 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.11 and a 200-day moving average of $36.12.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45. The business had revenue of $92.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.66 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 5.17% and a net margin of 5.98%.Vericel’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vericel Corporation will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Vericel from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 25th. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on Vericel from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vericel in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Vericel from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vericel currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.50.

Vericel Company Profile

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.