Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Lifted to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Vericel in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. They set a buy rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. BTIG Research lowered their price target on Vericel from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Vericel from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, HC Wainwright upped their price target on Vericel from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $51.33.

Vericel Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ VCEL opened at $52.32 on Wednesday. Vericel has a 1-year low of $30.18 and a 1-year high of $54.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $47.20 and a 200-day moving average of $46.42. The firm has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a PE ratio of -5,226.77 and a beta of 1.70.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.08) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.03. Vericel had a return on equity of 0.21% and a net margin of 0.22%. The company had revenue of $51.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.16) EPS. Vericel’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vericel will post 0.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vericel news, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 15,000 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at approximately $36,891.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.12, for a total value of $772,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,752 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,739,578.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 15,000 shares of the company’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 value of $782,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,891.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 63,791 shares of company stock worth $3,101,269. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vericel

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Vericel by 98.5% in the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 226,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,048,000 after buying an additional 112,169 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Vericel by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 560,419 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $19,957,000 after purchasing an additional 97,952 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Vericel by 99.7% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 111,760 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,814,000 after purchasing an additional 55,796 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in Vericel by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,021,695 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $53,149,000 after purchasing an additional 100,797 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Vericel by 43.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 679,165 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,330,000 after purchasing an additional 206,202 shares during the last quarter.

Vericel Company Profile

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.