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

Shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) have been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $48.17.

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. HC Wainwright upped their price target on shares of Vericel from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Vericel in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st.

Vericel Trading Up 1.9 %

VCEL stock opened at $45.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -4,571.43 and a beta of 1.74. Vericel has a 52 week low of $30.18 and a 52 week high of $53.05. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $46.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.38.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.08) 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 net margin of 0.22% and a return on equity of 0.21%. The firm’s revenue was up 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.16) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Vericel will post 0.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.59, for a total transaction of $780,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 195,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,708,739.13. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.59, for a total transaction of $780,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 195,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,708,739.13. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 6,772 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.02, for a total transaction of $304,875.44. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,924.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 43,246 shares of company stock valued at $1,924,869. Insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vericel

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its stake in Vericel by 98.5% during the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 226,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,048,000 after buying an additional 112,169 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Vericel by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 560,419 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $19,957,000 after purchasing an additional 97,952 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Vericel by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 472,963 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $16,842,000 after purchasing an additional 37,784 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA grew its holdings in Vericel by 509.1% during the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 836,481 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $43,514,000 after purchasing an additional 699,147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Vericel by 54.4% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 126,383 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,236,000 after purchasing an additional 44,507 shares in the last quarter.

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.