Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $58.40.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $60.00 price target on Vericel in a report on Thursday, July 30th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Vericel from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Vericel from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st.

Vericel Stock Performance

NASDAQ VCEL opened at $40.95 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $44.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.35. Vericel has a 52-week low of $28.95 and a 52-week high of $49.32. The company has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a PE ratio of 87.13 and a beta of 1.06.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.07. The company had revenue of $77.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.70 million. Vericel had a net margin of 7.91% and a return on equity of 6.91%. Vericel’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.01) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Vericel will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Vericel news, insider Jonathan Siegal sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.90, for a total value of $220,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,078 shares in the company, valued at $52,714.20. This trade represents a 80.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 10,000 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $450,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,753 shares in the company, valued at $3,408,885. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 52,232 shares of company stock worth $2,304,217. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Vericel during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vericel during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Vericel during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vericel by 116.5% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 970 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in shares of Vericel in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $60,000.

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.