Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Receives $55.75 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $55.75.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VCEL. Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on Vericel in a research report on Friday, August 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on shares of Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Vericel from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th.

Vericel Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Vericel stock opened at $40.70 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.33. Vericel has a 12 month low of $30.18 and a 12 month high of $54.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -4,070.00 and a beta of 1.67.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10). Vericel had a net margin of 0.37% and a return on equity of 0.35%. The company had revenue of $52.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.59 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.11) EPS. Vericel’s revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Vericel will post 0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vericel

In related news, CFO Joseph Anthony Mara, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $250,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $721,800. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.18, for a total transaction of $782,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,891.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joseph Anthony Mara, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $250,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $721,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,045 shares of company stock valued at $1,956,725 over the last three months. 5.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VCEL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Vericel by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 730,426 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $26,011,000 after buying an additional 8,080 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Vericel during the 4th quarter valued at about $566,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Vericel by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 25,743 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $917,000 after purchasing an additional 3,089 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Vericel by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 181,459 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,462,000 after buying an additional 4,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC now owns 204,344 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,277,000 after buying an additional 15,000 shares during the period.

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.