Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) CFO Joseph Anthony Mara, Jr. Sells 5,000 Shares of Stock

Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) CFO Joseph Anthony Mara, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.75, for a total value of $223,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 16,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,402.75. The trade was a 23.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Vericel Stock Performance

VCEL stock opened at $44.49 on Wednesday. Vericel Corporation has a 52-week low of $28.95 and a 52-week high of $46.62. The company has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.93 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $36.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.90.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.03. Vericel had a return on equity of 6.41% and a net margin of 7.35%.The business had revenue of $68.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.68 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.23) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 30.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vericel Corporation will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VCEL shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vericel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Vericel from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Leerink Partners reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, May 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vericel

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vericel by 90.3% during the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,210,929 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $69,578,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048,864 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Vericel by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,163,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $113,933,000 after purchasing an additional 356,680 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Vericel by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,580,967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $56,931,000 after purchasing an additional 290,795 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Vericel by 133.6% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 497,167 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $17,903,000 after purchasing an additional 284,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Vericel during the 3rd quarter valued at $8,409,000.

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.