Brown Capital Management LLC Has $161.65 Million Stake in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Brown Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,826,058 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 590,626 shares during the quarter. Vericel comprises about 3.5% of Brown Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Brown Capital Management LLC owned 0.08% of Vericel worth $161,651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Vericel by 4,126.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 634 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 619 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Vericel by 319.0% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 662 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Vericel by 48.1% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,247 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Vericel by 22.2% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,773 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Vericel in the third quarter valued at $92,000.

Vericel Stock Up 2.6 %

VCEL stock opened at $57.26 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $45.61 and a 200-day moving average of $46.87. The firm has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a PE ratio of 954.49 and a beta of 1.66. Vericel Co. has a 12-month low of $32.31 and a 12-month high of $57.81.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $57.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.32 million. On average, research analysts expect that Vericel Co. will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Vericel news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.38, for a total transaction of $724,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,142,373.06. The trade was a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 shares were sold at an average price of $40.35, for a total value of $235,361.55. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $443,850. This represents a 34.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,166 shares of company stock valued at $1,200,764 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.