State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 2,120 Shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its holdings in shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,599 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 2,120 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned 0.08% of Vericel worth $2,065,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,900 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,312,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 22.2% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,773 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 48.1% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,247 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 43,781 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,404,000 after buying an additional 489 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 8.0% during the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 7,400 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VCEL has been the topic of several research reports. BTIG Research raised their price target on Vericel from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Vericel from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Vericel from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vericel news, Director Paul K. Wotton sold 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.72, for a total value of $152,672.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,609,045.44. The trade was a 8.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.72, for a total value of $587,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 58,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,427,545.12. This trade represents a 14.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,100 shares of company stock valued at $1,206,072. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vericel Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCEL opened at $52.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a PE ratio of 866.81 and a beta of 1.72. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.58. Vericel Co. has a fifty-two week low of $39.12 and a fifty-two week high of $63.00.

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.