Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Vericel from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Vericel from $42.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.50.

Vericel Price Performance

NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $46.64 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 111.05 and a beta of 1.07. Vericel has a 1-year low of $28.95 and a 1-year high of $48.75. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $39.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.82.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $68.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.68 million. Vericel had a net margin of 7.35% and a return on equity of 6.41%. The firm’s revenue was up 30.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.23) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Vericel will post 0.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $450,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 75,753 shares in the company, valued at $3,408,885. This trade represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.21, for a total value of $603,150.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,647 shares in the company, valued at $66,225.87. This trade represents a 90.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 47,732 shares of company stock worth $2,084,167 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vericel

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VCEL. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vericel in the first quarter valued at approximately $242,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Vericel by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 31,445 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after buying an additional 1,847 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vericel by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 371,486 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $16,576,000 after buying an additional 44,333 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Vericel by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 123,028 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,490,000 after acquiring an additional 10,191 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its stake in Vericel by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 277,253 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $11,797,000 after acquiring an additional 13,422 shares during the period.

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.