Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Shares Bought by Synovus Financial Corp

Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) by 38.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,576 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,219 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Vericel were worth $489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VCEL. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Vericel by 214.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 587,857 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,837,000 after acquiring an additional 400,667 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vericel during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $563,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of Vericel by 4.6% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,079,048 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,590,000 after purchasing an additional 47,108 shares in the last quarter. Scholtz & Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vericel in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,357,000. Finally, Premier Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new position in Vericel during the third quarter worth approximately $781,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, November 8th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Stephens upgraded shares of Vericel to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vericel presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.38, for a total transaction of $724,150.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,142,373.06. This represents a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $150,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,595,700. This represents a 8.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 44,266 shares of company stock valued at $2,090,636. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vericel Price Performance

Shares of VCEL stock opened at $56.69 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $50.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.06. The firm has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 944.83 and a beta of 1.71. Vericel Co. has a 1-year low of $32.31 and a 1-year high of $61.49.

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

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.