Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Given Buy Rating at Canaccord Genuity Group

Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $60.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock.

VCEL has been the topic of a number of other reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on Vericel in a research report on Friday, August 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on Vericel from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.14.

Vericel Stock Up 5.6 %

NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $55.83 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 930.66 and a beta of 1.66. Vericel has a 12-month low of $32.31 and a 12-month high of $57.81.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $57.91 million during 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vericel will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vericel news, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $241,252.88. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $454,960. The trade was a 34.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the 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 owns 220,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,142,373.06. This represents a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,166 shares of company stock valued at $1,200,764 in the last quarter. 7.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VCEL. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 49.4% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 49,340 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,567,000 after purchasing an additional 16,312 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its position in Vericel by 19.1% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 16,199 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $843,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Vericel by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,413,442 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $177,567,000 after acquiring an additional 39,349 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Vericel in the first quarter valued at $595,000. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in shares of Vericel by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 58,377 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,036,000 after acquiring an additional 4,227 shares during the period.

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.