Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on VCEL. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. BTIG Research cut their target price on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, August 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.71.

Vericel Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCEL traded up $3.97 during trading on Friday, hitting $54.00. The company had a trading volume of 645,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 429,835. The company has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 900.00 and a beta of 1.66. Vericel has a 52 week low of $32.28 and a 52 week high of $54.47. The business’s 50-day moving average is $44.27 and its 200 day moving average is $46.40.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.03. Vericel had a net margin of 0.37% and a return on equity of 0.35%. The company had revenue of $57.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.32 million. On average, research analysts expect that Vericel will post 0.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vericel

In other Vericel news, 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 transaction of $724,150.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of Vericel 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,142,373.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $241,252.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at $454,960. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,166 shares of company stock worth $1,200,764 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vericel

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VCEL. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 61.4% in the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,104,386 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $46,660,000 after purchasing an additional 420,078 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its stake in Vericel by 37.4% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,291,720 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $54,575,000 after acquiring an additional 351,550 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Vericel during the first quarter valued at about $12,782,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Vericel by 34.9% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 840,787 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $38,575,000 after acquiring an additional 217,437 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Vericel by 51.5% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 611,146 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,039,000 after acquiring an additional 207,714 shares during the period.

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.