Jonathan Siegal Sells 2,732 Shares of Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Stock

Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) insider Jonathan Siegal sold 2,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.90, for a total transaction of $122,666.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,781.40. This trade represents a 75.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Vericel Price Performance

Vericel stock traded down $0.58 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.49. The company had a trading volume of 743,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 621,141. Vericel Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.95 and a 12-month high of $46.62. The company has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.93 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.85.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vericel

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VCEL. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Vericel by 51.3% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 805 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Vericel by 13.7% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,937 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 25,744 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $927,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 45,404 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,932,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,698 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Vericel Company Profile

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.