Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Given “Overweight” Rating at Stephens

Stephens reissued their overweight rating on shares of Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $65.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on VCEL. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Vericel from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com raised Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Vericel from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vericel currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.14.

Vericel Price Performance

Shares of VCEL stock opened at $57.55 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.84. Vericel has a one year low of $37.35 and a one year high of $61.49. The firm has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 959.33 and a beta of 1.72.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $57.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.32 million. Vericel had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 1.48%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Vericel will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vericel

In other Vericel news, Director Paul K. Wotton sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.72, for a total transaction of $152,672.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,402 shares in the company, valued at $1,609,045.44. This represents a 8.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $150,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 26,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,595,700. The trade was a 8.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,100 shares of company stock worth $889,872. 7.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vericel

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Vericel by 4,126.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 634 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Vericel by 48.1% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,247 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,773 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vericel during the third quarter valued at about $92,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Vericel during the third quarter valued at approximately $146,000.

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.