Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

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

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research dropped their target price on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, August 9th. They set a buy rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. 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 report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, August 9th. They set a buy rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $55.75.

Vericel Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $41.35 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $46.75 and its 200-day moving average is $47.29. Vericel has a 52 week low of $30.18 and a 52 week high of $54.10. The firm has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -4,135.00 and a beta of 1.67.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10). Vericel had a net margin of 0.37% and a return on equity of 0.35%. The company had revenue of $52.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.59 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.11) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vericel will post 0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.18, for a total value of $782,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 707 shares in the company, valued at $36,891.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.40, for a total value of $899,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,937 shares in the company, valued at $11,356,161.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.18, for a total transaction of $782,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,891.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 37,500 shares of company stock worth $1,932,200. Insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vericel

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VCEL. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in Vericel by 86.1% during the first quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 482 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in Vericel by 319.0% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 662 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 504 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Vericel by 9.7% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,484 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Vericel by 178.7% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,584 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 1,657 shares during the period. Finally, RiverPark Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vericel during the first quarter valued at about $147,000.

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.