Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) Receives $55.40 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $55.40.

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered Vericel from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Leerink Partners reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered Vericel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, May 8th.

Vericel Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of Vericel stock opened at $34.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.60 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.98. Vericel has a 12 month low of $28.95 and a 12 month high of $45.97.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $68.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.68 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 6.41% and a net margin of 7.35%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.23) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Vericel will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 3,472 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $121,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 75,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,644,460. The trade was a 4.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vericel

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VCEL. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vericel in the 1st quarter worth about $242,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Vericel by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 31,445 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Vericel by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 371,486 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $16,576,000 after purchasing an additional 44,333 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Vericel by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 123,028 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,490,000 after purchasing an additional 10,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in shares of Vericel by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 277,253 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $11,797,000 after purchasing an additional 13,422 shares during the last quarter.

Vericel Company Profile

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.