Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $58.40.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on VCEL shares. Weiss Ratings raised Vericel from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $58.00 target price (up from $54.00) on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Vericel from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st.

Vericel Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $40.95 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.13 and a beta of 1.06. Vericel has a 12 month low of $28.95 and a 12 month high of $49.32. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.35.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $77.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.70 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 6.91% and a net margin of 7.91%.The firm’s revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.01) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Vericel will post 0.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vericel

In other Vericel news, insider Jonathan Siegal sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.90, for a total value of $220,050.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,714.20. This represents a 80.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $450,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 75,753 shares in the company, valued at $3,408,885. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 52,232 shares of company stock worth $2,304,217. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vericel

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Vericel during the second quarter worth about $360,023,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Vericel by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,584,006 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $129,060,000 after acquiring an additional 68,368 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Vericel by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,163,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $113,933,000 after acquiring an additional 356,680 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Vericel by 3,959.3% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,485,656 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $110,587,000 after purchasing an additional 2,424,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Vericel by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,463,312 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $79,245,000 after purchasing an additional 208,750 shares in 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.