Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $61.14.

VCEL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Stephens upgraded shares of Vericel to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th.

Vericel Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $59.50 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $56.02 and a 200-day moving average of $49.66. Vericel has a twelve month low of $36.35 and a twelve month high of $61.49. The firm has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 991.83 and a beta of 1.72.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $57.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.32 million. Vericel had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 1.48%. On average, research analysts forecast that Vericel will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vericel

In other news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.38, for a total value of $724,150.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,142,373.06. This trade represents a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.72, for a total value of $587,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,427,545.12. This represents a 14.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,433 shares of company stock valued at $1,855,275. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vericel

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VCEL. Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vericel by 61.4% in the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,104,386 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $46,660,000 after buying an additional 420,078 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Vericel by 214.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 587,857 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,837,000 after acquiring an additional 400,667 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,291,720 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $54,575,000 after purchasing an additional 351,550 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Vericel by 34.9% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 840,787 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $38,575,000 after purchasing an additional 217,437 shares during the period. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 209,009 shares in the last quarter.

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.