Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, November 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Vericel from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Stephens upgraded shares of Vericel to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vericel has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.14.

Vericel Trading Up 1.0 %

VCEL opened at $57.04 on Tuesday. Vericel has a 1-year low of $32.31 and a 1-year high of $61.49. The company has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 950.83 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $51.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.27.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $57.91 million for 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, research analysts forecast that Vericel will post 0.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 220,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,142,373.06. This represents a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.35, for a total value of $235,361.55. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $443,850. This trade represents a 34.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 44,266 shares of company stock valued at $2,090,636 in the last ninety days. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vericel by 4,126.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 634 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Vericel by 48.1% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,247 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 22.2% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,773 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vericel in the third quarter valued at $92,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Vericel during the 3rd quarter valued at $146,000.

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.