Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

VCEL has been the topic of several other reports. BTIG Research lowered their price objective on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Vericel from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Vericel from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on Vericel in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.33.

Vericel Trading Down 1.3 %

Vericel stock opened at $51.70 on Wednesday. Vericel has a 1-year low of $30.18 and a 1-year high of $54.08. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.30. The company has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -5,164.84 and a beta of 1.70.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.08) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $51.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.07 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 0.21% and a net margin of 0.22%. The business’s revenue was up 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.16) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vericel will post 0.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vericel

In related news, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 6,772 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.02, for a total transaction of $304,875.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,924.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.12, for a total value of $772,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,752 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,739,578.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 6,772 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.02, for a total value of $304,875.44. Following the sale, the insider now owns 487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,924.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 63,791 shares of company stock worth $3,101,269 in the last ninety days. 5.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vericel

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 509.1% in the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 836,481 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $43,514,000 after buying an additional 699,147 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Vericel during the first quarter worth about $12,782,000. Geneva Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Vericel by 43.6% in the 1st quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 679,165 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,330,000 after acquiring an additional 206,202 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vericel by 61.2% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 410,488 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $21,354,000 after acquiring an additional 155,871 shares during the period. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Vericel during the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,538,000.

Vericel Company Profile

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.