Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Reaches New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) shares hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $43.85 and last traded at $43.10, with a volume of 408 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $42.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on VCEL shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vericel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 14th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, May 8th. Leerink Partners reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Vericel from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.50.

Vericel Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.70 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.74.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $68.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.68 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 6.41% and a net margin of 7.35%.Vericel’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.23) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vericel Corporation will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Vericel news, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.21, for a total value of $603,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,225.87. This represents a 90.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 3,472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $121,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,460. This trade represents a 4.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in Vericel by 51.3% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 805 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Vericel in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Vericel in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 116.5% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 970 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 175.4% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 1,534 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 977 shares during the period.

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.