Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) have been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $61.14.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BTIG Research lifted their price target on Vericel from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Stephens raised shares of Vericel to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th.

Vericel Stock Performance

Vericel stock opened at $58.08 on Wednesday. Vericel has a twelve month low of $32.31 and a twelve month high of $61.49. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of 968.16 and a beta of 1.72. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $55.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.36.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.03. The business 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Vericel will post 0.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vericel news, Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 2,500 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $150,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,595,700. The trade was a 8.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.72, for a total value of $587,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,427,545.12. This represents a 14.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,433 shares of company stock valued at $1,855,275 in the last quarter. Insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vericel by 4,126.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 634 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 619 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Vericel by 48.1% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,247 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position 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 worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vericel during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $92,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Vericel during the third quarter valued at approximately $146,000.

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.