Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $58.50.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on VCEL shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vericel in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Vericel from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Zacks Research cut Vericel from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Vericel from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Vericel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday.

Vericel Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $33.71 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.74 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50 day moving average of $36.80 and a 200-day moving average of $36.07. Vericel has a one year low of $29.24 and a one year high of $50.36.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.45. Vericel had a net margin of 5.98% and a return on equity of 5.17%. The business had revenue of $92.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.66 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. Vericel’s revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vericel will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vericel

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Vericel in the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Vericel in the fourth quarter valued at about $668,000. Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Vericel by 43.5% during the fourth quarter. Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC now owns 135,054 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,863,000 after buying an additional 40,948 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 322,975 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $11,630,000 after buying an additional 14,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oxford Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in Vericel in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $300,000.

About Vericel

Vericel Corporation is a biotechnology company specializing in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of cell-based therapies for patients with severe diseases and conditions. The company’s expertise lies in regenerative medicine, where it harnesses the power of autologous cell processing to create products designed to restore function and promote healing in damaged tissues.

Vericel currently markets two FDA-approved therapies. MACI® (autologous cultured chondrocytes on porcine collagen membrane) is indicated for the repair of symptomatic cartilage defects of the knee in adult patients.