Vericel’s (VCEL) Overweight Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating restated by investment analysts at Stephens in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $67.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Stephens’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 64.22% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com lowered Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Vericel from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.14.

Vericel Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCEL opened at $40.80 on Thursday. Vericel has a 1 year low of $37.39 and a 1 year high of $63.00. The firm has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 679.45 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $42.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.05.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $52.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $53.86 million. Vericel had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 1.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.08) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Vericel will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vericel

In other Vericel news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 24,850 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total transaction of $1,040,966.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 260,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,906,229.06. This trade represents a 8.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vericel

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,273,494 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $101,443,000 after purchasing an additional 35,345 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its position in Vericel by 1.6% during the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,476,718 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $65,891,000 after acquiring an additional 22,579 shares in the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Vericel by 12.4% in the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,432,434 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $63,915,000 after acquiring an additional 158,470 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Vericel by 24.2% in the first quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,365,744 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $60,939,000 after acquiring an additional 265,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Vericel by 5.8% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,363,644 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $60,846,000 after acquiring an additional 74,723 shares in the last quarter.

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.