BTIG Research Issues Positive Forecast for Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Stock Price

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at BTIG Research from $56.00 to $66.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. BTIG Research’s target price indicates a potential upside of 13.64% from the stock’s current price.

VCEL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, August 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Stephens increased their target price on Vericel from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vericel currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.71.

Vericel Stock Performance

VCEL traded down $0.54 on Tuesday, reaching $58.08. The company had a trading volume of 91,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 430,974. Vericel has a 52-week low of $32.31 and a 52-week high of $61.49. The company has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 968.00 and a beta of 1.66. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.07.

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, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $57.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.32 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 1.48% and a net margin of 1.56%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vericel will post 0.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $241,252.88. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at $454,960. The trade was a 34.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 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 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,666 shares of company stock worth $1,350,764. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vericel by 9.7% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,484 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Vericel by 22.2% during 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 buying an additional 322 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,850 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Vericel by 48.1% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,247 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,866 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 406 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.