Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Receives $55.13 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $55.13.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Vericel from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BTIG Research decreased their price target on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th.

Vericel Price Performance

VCEL opened at $46.14 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $46.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.16. Vericel has a 1 year low of $30.18 and a 1 year high of $54.08. The stock has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -4,614.00 and a beta of 1.70.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $52.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.59 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 0.35% and a net margin of 0.37%. Vericel’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.11) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Vericel will post 0.11 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.40, for a total value of $899,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,937 shares in the company, valued at $11,356,161.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.40, for a total value of $899,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,356,161.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.18, for a total transaction of $782,700.00. Following the transaction, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 63,791 shares of company stock worth $3,101,269 in the last ninety days. 5.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vericel

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCEL. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 9.7% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,484 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vericel by 86.1% in the 1st quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 482 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its position in Vericel by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 89,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,656,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Vericel by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,850 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Vericel by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,866 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during 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.