Vericel’s (VCEL) Overweight Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $65.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock.

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

Vericel Trading Up 4.8 %

NASDAQ VCEL opened at $59.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $57.03 and a 200-day moving average of $50.03. Vericel has a 1-year low of $37.36 and a 1-year high of $61.49. The firm has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a PE ratio of 984.66 and a beta of 1.72.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vericel news, Director Paul K. Wotton sold 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.72, for a total value of $152,672.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,609,045.44. This represents a 8.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.72, for a total transaction of $587,200.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,100 shares of company stock worth $889,872. 7.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vericel

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Vericel by 22.2% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vericel by 48.1% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,247 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Vericel by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 7,400 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Vericel by 4,126.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 634 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Vericel by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,890 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $714,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during 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.