Legato Capital Management LLC Sells 8,144 Shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Legato Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 58.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,720 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 8,144 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Vericel were worth $314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 1.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,372,812 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $100,251,000 after buying an additional 22,461 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Vericel by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,075,730 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $87,700,000 after purchasing an additional 34,360 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its position in shares of Vericel by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,291,720 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $54,575,000 after purchasing an additional 351,550 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Vericel by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,154,053 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,768,000 after buying an additional 9,613 shares during the period. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Vericel by 61.4% during the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,104,386 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $46,660,000 after buying an additional 420,078 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on VCEL shares. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased 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 analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Vericel presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.14.

Vericel Stock Up 0.5 %

Vericel stock opened at $57.09 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.30. Vericel Co. has a twelve month low of $39.12 and a twelve month high of $63.00. The company has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a PE ratio of 951.66 and a beta of 1.72.

Insider Activity

In other Vericel news, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.72, for a total value of $587,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 58,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,427,545.12. The trade was a 14.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan Siegal sold 1,092 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $67,693.08. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,759.94. This represents a 47.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 22,600 shares of company stock valued at $1,356,072. Insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

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.