Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) have received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $46.80.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VCEL. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. HC Wainwright raised their price target on Vericel from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Vericel from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.67, for a total value of $781,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 194,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,704,842.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Vericel news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.67, for a total value of $781,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 194,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,704,842.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Sean C. Flynn sold 8,115 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.33, for a total value of $367,852.95. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 167 shares in the company, valued at $7,570.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,267 shares of company stock worth $2,450,996. 7.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vericel

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VCEL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Vericel by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,374,093 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $120,151,000 after purchasing an additional 48,514 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,339,960 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $83,326,000 after buying an additional 109,215 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Vericel by 2.8% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 1,091,682 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $36,593,000 after acquiring an additional 30,123 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 100,797 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Vericel by 59.5% in the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 855,207 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,667,000 after acquiring an additional 318,916 shares in the last quarter.

Vericel Stock Performance

Shares of VCEL opened at $48.65 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -540.56 and a beta of 1.74. Vericel has a 52-week low of $30.18 and a 52-week high of $53.05. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.66.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $51.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.07 million. Vericel had a negative net margin of 1.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.16) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Vericel will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.