Vericel’s (VCEL) Overweight Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $67.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.14.

Vericel Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $41.78 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $41.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.39. The stock has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,393.13 and a beta of 1.33. Vericel has a fifty-two week low of $37.39 and a fifty-two week high of $63.00.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its earnings results 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 1.25% and a return on equity of 1.09%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.08) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vericel will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vericel

In other news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 24,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 260,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,906,229.06. This trade represents a 8.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vericel

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VCEL. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Vericel by 119.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,288,921 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $70,775,000 after buying an additional 701,064 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Vericel in the 4th quarter valued at $34,233,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Vericel in the 4th quarter valued at $28,126,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in Vericel by 66.3% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,258,416 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $69,100,000 after buying an additional 501,736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its position in Vericel by 24.2% in the 1st quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,365,744 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $60,939,000 after buying an additional 265,956 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.