Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its stake in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 21.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 42,915 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 7,625 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned about 0.09% of Vericel worth $2,356,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI purchased a new stake in shares of Vericel in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vericel by 511.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,265 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vericel by 826.6% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,511 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,240 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Vericel during the third quarter valued at approximately $146,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in Vericel by 82.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,707 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $149,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on VCEL shares. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $61.00 target price (down previously from $67.00) on shares of Vericel in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Vericel from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vericel has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.29.

Vericel Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of Vericel stock opened at $46.26 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 771.13 and a beta of 1.78. Vericel Co. has a 12-month low of $39.12 and a 12-month high of $63.00. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.70.

Insider Transactions at Vericel

In other news, insider Jonathan Siegal sold 3,908 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $242,256.92. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,206 shares in the company, valued at $74,759.94. This represents a 76.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 26,592 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.78, for a total transaction of $1,217,381.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 259,997 shares in the company, valued at $11,902,662.66. The trade was a 9.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,092 shares of company stock worth $1,683,582 over the last 90 days. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.