Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $57.50.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VCEL shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Vericel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 17th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Vericel from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vericel in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Vericel from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vericel

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Vericel in the second quarter worth $30,000. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in Vericel by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 805 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Vericel in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Vericel by 101.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,379 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vericel during the 2nd quarter valued at about $60,000.

Vericel Trading Up 3.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $39.14 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 163.09 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $37.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.42. Vericel has a 12-month low of $29.24 and a 12-month high of $63.00.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $67.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 4.30% and a net margin of 5.06%.Vericel’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.02) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Vericel will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

About Vericel

Vericel Corporation is a biotechnology company specializing in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of cell-based therapies for patients with severe diseases and conditions. The company’s expertise lies in regenerative medicine, where it harnesses the power of autologous cell processing to create products designed to restore function and promote healing in damaged tissues.

Vericel currently markets two FDA-approved therapies. MACI® (autologous cultured chondrocytes on porcine collagen membrane) is indicated for the repair of symptomatic cartilage defects of the knee in adult patients.