StockNews.com Downgrades Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Friday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on VCEL. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on shares of Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. BTIG Research reduced their target price on Vericel from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on Vericel in a report on Thursday, June 20th. They set a buy rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $54.50.

Vericel Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $45.86 on Friday. Vericel has a 12-month low of $30.18 and a 12-month high of $54.08. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $47.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.95. The firm has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of -4,586.00 and a beta of 1.70.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $52.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.59 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 0.35% and a net margin of 0.37%. The company’s revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.11) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Vericel will post 0.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vericel

In other Vericel news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.12, for a total value of $772,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,739,578.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Vericel news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.12, for a total value of $772,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,752 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,739,578.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 1,474 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total transaction of $67,568.16. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,324.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 63,791 shares of company stock valued at $3,101,269 in the last 90 days. 5.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vericel

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VCEL. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Vericel during the fourth quarter worth approximately $197,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in shares of Vericel during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 26,115 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $930,000 after acquiring an additional 767 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Vericel by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,339,960 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $83,326,000 after acquiring an additional 109,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Vericel in the fourth quarter worth $851,000.

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.