Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

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

VCEL has been the topic of several other research reports. Stephens upgraded Vericel to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. BTIG Research increased their price target on Vericel from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vericel currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.71.

Vericel Stock Performance

Vericel stock traded down $0.91 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $57.01. The stock had a trading volume of 279,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 426,728. Vericel has a 1-year low of $32.31 and a 1-year high of $61.49. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 950.17 and a beta of 1.71.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.03. The firm 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vericel will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.35, for a total value of $235,361.55. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at $443,850. This represents a 34.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul K. Wotton sold 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.72, for a total transaction of $152,672.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,609,045.44. The trade was a 8.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 44,266 shares of company stock worth $2,090,636 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VCEL. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Vericel by 1.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,372,812 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $100,251,000 after acquiring an additional 22,461 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vericel by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,075,730 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $87,700,000 after purchasing an additional 34,360 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Vericel by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,291,720 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $54,575,000 after buying an additional 351,550 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Vericel by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,154,053 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,768,000 after buying an additional 9,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 worth $46,660,000 after buying an additional 420,078 shares during the period.

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.