Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Sells 18,008 Shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 97,326 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 18,008 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings in Vericel were worth $5,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Vericel by 214.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 587,857 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,837,000 after purchasing an additional 400,667 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Vericel by 40.0% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 28,073 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after buying an additional 8,020 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Vericel by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,154,053 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,768,000 after acquiring an additional 9,613 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Vericel by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,900 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,312,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vericel in the third quarter worth $563,000.

Vericel Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of VCEL opened at $46.07 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.67. The firm has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a PE ratio of 767.96 and a beta of 1.78. Vericel Co. has a 1-year low of $39.12 and a 1-year high of $63.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity at Vericel

In related news, Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.50, for a total transaction of $156,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 26,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,662,187.50. The trade was a 8.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 26,592 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,092 shares of company stock worth $1,683,582. 5.20% of the stock is owned by 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.