Insider Selling: Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Director Sells 2,500 Shares of Stock

Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) 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 sale, the director now directly owns 26,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,662,187.50. This represents a 8.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Vericel Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCEL opened at $58.35 on Friday. Vericel Co. has a fifty-two week low of $39.12 and a fifty-two week high of $63.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 972.66 and a beta of 1.72. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.11.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vericel

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Vericel by 4,126.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 634 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 619 shares during the period. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI bought a new stake in Vericel in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Vericel by 48.1% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,247 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Vericel by 511.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,265 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,773 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VCEL. StockNews.com upgraded Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Vericel from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.14.

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.