Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

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

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings cut Vericel from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Leerink Partners restated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.40.

Vericel Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of VCEL opened at $33.03 on Friday. Vericel has a 52-week low of $28.95 and a 52-week high of $45.97. The company has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a PE ratio of 78.64 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.06.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.03. Vericel had a return on equity of 6.41% and a net margin of 7.35%.The business had revenue of $68.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.68 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.23) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vericel will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 3,472 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $121,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 75,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,460. This trade represents a 4.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vericel

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC increased its position in Vericel by 1.6% during the first quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 132,063 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,248,000 after buying an additional 2,094 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vericel in the first quarter valued at approximately $405,000. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vericel in the first quarter valued at approximately $257,000. Gibbs Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Vericel by 67.8% in the first quarter. Gibbs Wealth Management now owns 20,506 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $660,000 after purchasing an additional 8,286 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Vericel by 55.3% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 360,712 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $11,604,000 after purchasing an additional 128,494 shares during the period.

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.