Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Given Buy Rating at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright restated their buy rating on shares of Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. HC Wainwright currently has a $60.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Vericel’s Q4 2024 earnings at $0.37 EPS and Q3 2025 earnings at $0.09 EPS.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on VCEL. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, August 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.71.

Vericel Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCEL traded up $3.97 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $54.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 645,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 429,835. Vericel has a 1-year low of $32.28 and a 1-year high of $54.47. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $44.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.40. The firm has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 900.00 and a beta of 1.66.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.03. Vericel had a net margin of 0.37% and a return on equity of 0.35%. The business had revenue of $57.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.32 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Vericel will post 0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $241,252.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $454,960. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Vericel news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.38, for a total transaction of $724,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,142,373.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $241,252.88. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $454,960. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,166 shares of company stock valued at $1,200,764. 5.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vericel

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Vericel during the first quarter worth $595,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Vericel by 99.7% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 111,760 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,814,000 after purchasing an additional 55,796 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in shares of Vericel by 10.9% in the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,021,695 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $53,149,000 after purchasing an additional 100,797 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Vericel in the first quarter worth $6,538,000. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Vericel in the first quarter worth $12,782,000.

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.