Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $52.50.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Leerink Partners reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vericel from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vericel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 3,472 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $121,520.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 75,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,460. The trade was a 4.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.21, for a total transaction of $603,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,225.87. The trade was a 90.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vericel

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VCEL. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vericel by 90.3% in the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,210,929 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $69,578,000 after buying an additional 1,048,864 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Vericel by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,163,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $113,933,000 after purchasing an additional 356,680 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc raised its holdings in shares of Vericel by 159.5% during the third quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 542,866 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $17,084,000 after purchasing an additional 333,649 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vericel by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,580,967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $56,931,000 after purchasing an additional 290,795 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vericel by 133.6% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 497,167 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $17,903,000 after purchasing an additional 284,305 shares during the period.

Vericel Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $40.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of 96.17 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $35.59 and its 200-day moving average is $35.66. Vericel has a 52 week low of $28.95 and a 52 week high of $43.57.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $68.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.68 million. Vericel had a net margin of 7.35% and a return on equity of 6.41%. Vericel’s revenue was up 30.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.23) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vericel will post 0.49 EPS for the current year.

Vericel Company Profile

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.