Insider Selling: Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Director Sells 2,500 Shares of Stock

Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.50, for a total transaction of $156,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 26,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,662,187.50. This trade represents a 8.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Vericel Trading Down 2.3 %

NASDAQ:VCEL traded down $1.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $58.35. The stock had a trading volume of 293,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 416,381. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.11. Vericel Co. has a 52 week low of $39.12 and a 52 week high of $63.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 972.66 and a beta of 1.72.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $57.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.32 million. Vericel had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 1.48%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Vericel Co. will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Vericel in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,126,000. Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vericel by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,104,386 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $46,660,000 after purchasing an additional 420,078 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Vericel by 214.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 587,857 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,837,000 after acquiring an additional 400,667 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in Vericel by 37.4% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,291,720 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $54,575,000 after acquiring an additional 351,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Vericel by 54.8% in the third quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 590,145 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,934,000 after buying an additional 209,009 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on VCEL shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Vericel from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.14.

About Vericel

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.