Vericel’s (VCEL) Buy Rating Reiterated at Canaccord Genuity Group

Canaccord Genuity Group reissued their buy rating on shares of Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $60.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, August 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vericel currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.14.

Vericel Stock Performance

Shares of VCEL opened at $56.71 on Tuesday. Vericel has a 52 week low of $32.31 and a 52 week high of $58.49. The firm has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 945.32 and a beta of 1.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.94.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.03. Vericel had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 1.48%. The business had revenue of $57.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.32 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vericel will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vericel

In other news, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.35, for a total transaction of $235,361.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at $443,850. This represents a 34.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.38, for a total transaction of $724,150.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,142,373.06. This trade represents a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,166 shares of company stock worth $1,200,764. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vericel

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Vericel during the first quarter valued at about $595,000. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Vericel in the first quarter worth about $6,538,000. Scholtz & Company LLC bought a new stake in Vericel in the second quarter worth about $1,357,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Vericel by 6.5% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 420,643 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $19,299,000 after acquiring an additional 25,626 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. raised its position in Vericel by 37.4% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,291,720 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $54,575,000 after acquiring an additional 351,550 shares during the period.

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.