Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $62.00

Key Points

• Analysts are broadly bullish: Seven firms give Vericel an average “Buy” rating, with a consensus 12-month price target of $62.00.
• Quarterly results beat expectations: Vericel reported EPS of $0.27 versus estimates of $0.06 and revenue of $85.37 million versus forecasts of $77.95 million; revenue increased 26.5% year over year.
• Insiders have been selling shares: Company insiders sold 49,008 shares worth about $2.7 million in the last quarter, including substantial sales by the CFO and another insider.

Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Buy" from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $62.00.

VCEL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on Vericel from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Vericel from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, November 7th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Vericel from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on shares of Vericel from $55.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jonathan Siegal sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.90, for a total transaction of $79,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,601.10. This trade represents a 54.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Joseph Mara, Jr. sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.26, for a total value of $1,456,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 16,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $942,996.36. This trade represents a 60.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 49,008 shares of company stock worth $2,701,078 in the last quarter. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vericel

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VCEL. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 24.8% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,194 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Vericel by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,886 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Kopp Family Office LLC grew its stake in Vericel by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Kopp Family Office LLC now owns 51,352 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Vericel by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 157,081 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $6,195,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Vericel by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 23,079 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,027,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period.

Vericel Stock Performance

Vericel stock traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $56.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 698,761 shares, compared to its average volume of 911,978. Vericel has a 12-month low of $28.95 and a 12-month high of $59.75. The company has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.00 and a beta of 1.08. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $42.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.41.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $85.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.95 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 9.09% and a net margin of 10.27%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 26.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Vericel will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vericel Company Profile

Vericel Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing cell therapies and other treatments for serious conditions. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the company markets its products primarily in the United States. Its products include MACI, an implant made from a patient's own cultured cartilage cells used to repair certain cartilage defects in the knee, and Epicel, a cultured skin graft used to treat patients with deep burns. Vericel also commercializes NexoBrid in the United States, an enzyme-based treatment for removing dead tissue from severe thermal burns.

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