Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $58.50.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Vericel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vericel in a report on Monday, December 29th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Vericel from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of Vericel from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Vericel from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th.

Vericel Stock Down 0.9%

NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $33.71 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $36.80 and its 200-day moving average is $36.07. Vericel has a 12 month low of $29.24 and a 12 month high of $50.36. The firm has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.74 and a beta of 1.22.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.45. The business had revenue of $92.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.66 million. Vericel had a net margin of 5.98% and a return on equity of 5.17%. Vericel’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. Research analysts predict that Vericel will post 0.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vericel

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Vericel by 38.4% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 118,856 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,057,000 after purchasing an additional 32,976 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Vericel by 174.0% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 64,387 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,026,000 after purchasing an additional 40,892 shares in the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC raised its position in Vericel by 74.3% in the 2nd quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 398,960 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $16,976,000 after purchasing an additional 170,006 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its holdings in Vericel by 159.5% during the 3rd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 542,866 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $17,084,000 after buying an additional 333,649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Vericel by 90.3% in the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,210,929 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $69,578,000 after buying an additional 1,048,864 shares during the last quarter.

About Vericel

Vericel Corporation is a biotechnology company specializing in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of cell-based therapies for patients with severe diseases and conditions. The company’s expertise lies in regenerative medicine, where it harnesses the power of autologous cell processing to create products designed to restore function and promote healing in damaged tissues.

Vericel currently markets two FDA-approved therapies. MACI® (autologous cultured chondrocytes on porcine collagen membrane) is indicated for the repair of symptomatic cartilage defects of the knee in adult patients.