Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Truist Financial

Truist Financial restated their buy rating on shares of Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) in a report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $54.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. TheStreet raised Vericel from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on shares of Vericel from $46.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $46.40.

Vericel Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $52.02 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -577.94 and a beta of 1.69. Vericel has a 1 year low of $28.02 and a 1 year high of $52.50. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.64.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $65.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.28 million. Vericel had a negative return on equity of 1.55% and a negative net margin of 1.61%. The company’s revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.12 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vericel will post 0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vericel news, Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 2,200 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction on Friday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.09, for a total value of $83,798.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,176,790.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Vericel news, Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 2,200 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction on Friday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.09, for a total value of $83,798.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,176,790.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Sean C. Flynn sold 8,115 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.33, for a total transaction of $367,852.95. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,570.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 62,915 shares of company stock valued at $2,676,022 over the last quarter. Insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCEL. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Vericel by 104.2% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,356,426 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,467,000 after purchasing an additional 692,260 shares during the last quarter. Soleus Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Vericel by 143.0% during the fourth quarter. Soleus Capital Management L.P. now owns 908,997 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $23,943,000 after purchasing an additional 534,997 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Vericel by 15.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,400,735 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $85,631,000 after acquiring an additional 458,219 shares during the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC purchased a new position in Vericel in the fourth quarter valued at about $15,282,000. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Vericel by 59.5% in the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 855,207 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,667,000 after acquiring an additional 318,916 shares during the last quarter.

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.