Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) have been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $60.86.

VCEL has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Vericel from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, February 28th.

Vericel Stock Performance

VCEL opened at $42.48 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $42.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of 708.12 and a beta of 1.31. Vericel has a 52 week low of $37.39 and a 52 week high of $63.00.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $52.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $53.86 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 1.48% and a net margin of 1.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.08) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Vericel will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 24,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total value of $1,040,966.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 260,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,906,229.06. This represents a 8.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vericel

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,357 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its position in shares of Vericel by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 7,952 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $437,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Vericel by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 6,111 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in Vericel by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,900 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,312,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Vericel by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 13,803 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $758,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period.

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.