Robert L. Md Zerbe Sells 2,500 Shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Stock

Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 2,500 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.50, for a total value of $156,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,662,187.50. This represents a 8.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Vericel Price Performance

NASDAQ VCEL traded down $1.35 during trading on Friday, hitting $58.35. 293,454 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 416,381. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $57.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.11. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 972.66 and a beta of 1.72. Vericel Co. has a 12-month low of $39.12 and a 12-month high of $63.00.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vericel

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in Vericel during the 2nd quarter valued at about $513,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Vericel by 5.4% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 26,472 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,355 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Vericel during the second quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in Vericel by 104.9% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,108 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $188,000 after acquiring an additional 2,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Vericel by 106.1% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 24,486 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 12,605 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on VCEL. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Vericel from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Vericel from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.14.

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.