Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on VCEL. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $61.00 price target (down from $67.00) on shares of Vericel in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Vericel from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Vericel from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.29.

Vericel Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of VCEL stock opened at $49.56 on Friday. Vericel has a 12 month low of $39.12 and a 12 month high of $63.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 826.14 and a beta of 1.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $56.48 and its 200 day moving average is $51.98.

Insider Activity at Vericel

In other Vericel news, insider Jonathan Siegal sold 3,908 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total value of $242,256.92. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,759.94. The trade was a 76.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.50, for a total value of $156,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 26,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,662,187.50. The trade was a 8.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,500 shares of company stock valued at $466,200 in the last three months. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vericel

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Vericel by 214.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 587,857 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,837,000 after acquiring an additional 400,667 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Vericel by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 28,073 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,186,000 after purchasing an additional 8,020 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,154,053 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,768,000 after buying an additional 9,613 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in Vericel by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,900 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,312,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vericel during the third quarter valued at approximately $563,000.

Vericel Company Profile

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.