Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on VCEL. Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, August 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Vericel from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Stephens boosted their price target on Vericel from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BTIG Research cut their price objective on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.71.

Vericel Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCEL opened at $56.78 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a PE ratio of 946.49 and a beta of 1.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $44.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.41. Vericel has a 52-week low of $32.31 and a 52-week high of $57.35.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $57.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.32 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 1.48% and a net margin of 1.56%. On average, analysts forecast that Vericel will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.38, for a total value of $724,150.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,142,373.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.35, for a total value of $235,361.55. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $443,850. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.38, for a total value of $724,150.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,937 shares in the company, valued at $9,142,373.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,166 shares of company stock worth $1,200,764 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vericel

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vericel in the first quarter valued at approximately $244,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Vericel by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 27,960 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,454,000 after buying an additional 1,845 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Vericel by 99.7% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 111,760 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,814,000 after purchasing an additional 55,796 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its holdings in Vericel by 1.3% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 41,768 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,173,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vericel during the 1st quarter worth about $12,782,000.

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.