Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Has $43.94 Million Holdings in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P decreased its stake in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,040,070 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 23,930 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Vericel were worth $43,943,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VCEL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Vericel by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,413,442 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $177,567,000 after purchasing an additional 39,349 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its stake in shares of Vericel by 7.8% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 58,377 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,036,000 after buying an additional 4,227 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vericel by 25.7% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,508 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $859,000 after buying an additional 3,374 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Vericel by 178.7% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,584 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 1,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Vericel by 6.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,280 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,420,000 after acquiring an additional 1,721 shares during the period.

Vericel Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Vericel stock opened at $58.62 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 977.00 and a beta of 1.66. Vericel Co. has a 12-month low of $32.31 and a 12-month high of $61.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.07.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $57.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.32 million. Vericel had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 1.48%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vericel Co. will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on VCEL. Stephens raised their price objective on Vericel from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, August 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vericel has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vericel

In other news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,142,373.06. This trade represents a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.35, for a total transaction of $235,361.55. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $443,850. This trade represents a 34.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 31,666 shares of company stock worth $1,350,764. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vericel Company 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.