Vericel’s (VCEL) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright restated their buy rating on shares of Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) in a report issued on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $70.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on VCEL. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Vericel from $42.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Vericel from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.50.

Vericel Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of VCEL opened at $47.61 on Tuesday. Vericel has a 12-month low of $28.95 and a 12-month high of $49.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 113.36 and a beta of 1.07.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.08. Vericel had a net margin of 7.35% and a return on equity of 6.41%. The firm had revenue of $77.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.70 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.01) earnings per share. Vericel’s revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Vericel will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vericel

In related news, 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 transaction of $450,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 75,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,408,885. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.64, for a total value of $684,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,169.08. The trade was a 90.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 47,732 shares of company stock valued at $2,084,167. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vericel

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Vericel during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Vericel in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vericel by 116.5% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 970 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 175.4% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 1,534 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vericel in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000.

Vericel Company Profile

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.