Insider Selling: Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) CFO Sells $223,750.00 in Stock

Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) CFO Joseph Anthony Mara, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.75, for a total value of $223,750.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 16,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,402.75. The trade was a 23.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Vericel Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of VCEL traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $44.49. 743,265 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 621,141. The business has a fifty day moving average of $36.33 and a 200-day moving average of $35.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a PE ratio of 105.93 and a beta of 1.12. Vericel Corporation has a 1-year low of $28.95 and a 1-year high of $46.62.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $68.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.68 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 6.41% and a net margin of 7.35%.The company’s revenue was up 30.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.23) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vericel Corporation will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VCEL shares. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vericel from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vericel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. Finally, Leerink Partners reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vericel currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vericel

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCEL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Vericel by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,584,006 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $129,060,000 after buying an additional 68,368 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Vericel by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,163,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $113,933,000 after acquiring an additional 356,680 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Vericel by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,463,312 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $79,245,000 after acquiring an additional 208,750 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Vericel by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,222,107 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,018,000 after purchasing an additional 11,178 shares during the period. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Vericel by 9.0% in the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,946,305 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $61,250,000 after purchasing an additional 161,378 shares in the last quarter.

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.