Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $59.71.

A number of research firms have weighed in on VCEL. StockNews.com lowered Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen boosted their price target 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. Stephens upgraded shares of Vericel to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, November 8th.

Insider Transactions at Vericel

In other Vericel news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,937 shares in the company, valued at $9,142,373.06. This represents a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.35, for a total value of $235,361.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $443,850. The trade was a 34.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 44,266 shares of company stock worth $2,090,636. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Vericel by 4,126.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 634 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 619 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Vericel by 319.0% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 662 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 48.1% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,247 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Vericel by 22.2% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,773 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Vericel during the 3rd quarter worth $92,000.

Vericel Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $57.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 957.99 and a beta of 1.71. Vericel has a twelve month low of $32.31 and a twelve month high of $61.49. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $49.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.87.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $57.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.32 million. Vericel had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 1.48%. On average, analysts expect that Vericel will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

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.