Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $63.00 and last traded at $60.98, with a volume of 145549 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $59.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on VCEL. Truist Financial upped their target price on Vericel from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Vericel from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.14.

Vericel Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $57.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 995.17 and a beta of 1.72.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $57.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.32 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 1.48% and a net margin of 1.56%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vericel Co. will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Paul K. Wotton sold 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.72, for a total transaction of $152,672.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,609,045.44. This represents a 8.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jonathan Siegal sold 3,908 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $242,256.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,206 shares in the company, valued at $74,759.94. This represents a 76.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,008 shares of company stock valued at $1,132,129. 7.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vericel

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 1.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,372,812 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $100,251,000 after purchasing an additional 22,461 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Vericel by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,075,730 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $87,700,000 after buying an additional 34,360 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its stake in Vericel by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,454,139 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $79,847,000 after buying an additional 162,419 shares in the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vericel by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,273,964 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $69,953,000 after acquiring an additional 30,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $48,768,000 after acquiring an additional 9,613 shares in the last quarter.

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.