Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on VCEL. Zacks Research cut Vericel from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. HC Wainwright lifted their target price on Vericel from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vericel in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Vericel from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vericel currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.50.

Vericel Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCEL opened at $33.71 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 108.74 and a beta of 1.22. Vericel has a 1 year low of $29.24 and a 1 year high of $50.36. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.06.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45. Vericel had a return on equity of 5.17% and a net margin of 5.98%.The firm had revenue of $92.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.66 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vericel will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vericel

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Vericel during the 1st quarter valued at $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 acquiring an additional 1,847 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vericel by 13.6% during 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 lifted its stake in shares of Vericel by 9.0% during 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, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Vericel by 11.3% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 227,634 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,686,000 after purchasing an additional 23,124 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.