Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Shares Gap Down to $49.52

Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $49.52, but opened at $46.00. Vericel shares last traded at $47.72, with a volume of 84,179 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on VCEL shares. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on shares of Vericel from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Vericel from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.80.

Vericel Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -540.56 and a beta of 1.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $47.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.66.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $51.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.07 million. Vericel had a negative net margin of 1.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.16) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Vericel Co. will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Sean C. Flynn sold 8,115 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.33, for a total transaction of $367,852.95. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,570.11. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Sean C. Flynn sold 8,115 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.33, for a total value of $367,852.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,570.11. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.59, for a total value of $780,325.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 195,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,708,739.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,267 shares of company stock worth $2,450,996 in the last ninety days. 7.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vericel

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VCEL. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Vericel by 86.1% in the first quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 482 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI acquired a new stake in shares of Vericel in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in Vericel during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Vericel during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, RiverPark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Vericel in the first quarter valued at about $147,000.

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.