HC Wainwright Increases Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Price Target to $55.00

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by HC Wainwright from $53.00 to $55.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the biotechnology company's stock. HC Wainwright's price target indicates a potential upside of 13.05% from the stock's previous close.

VCEL has been the topic of several other reports. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $54.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. TheStreet upgraded Vericel from a "d+" rating to a "c-" rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.80.

Vericel Stock Up 2.0 %

Vericel stock traded up $0.96 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $48.65. 318,992 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 525,415. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $47.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of -540.56 and a beta of 1.74. Vericel has a one year low of $30.18 and a one year high of $53.05.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.08) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $51.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.07 million. Vericel had a negative return on equity of 1.55% and a negative net margin of 1.61%. Vericel's quarterly revenue was up 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.16) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vericel will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Sean C. Flynn sold 8,115 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.33, for a total value of $367,852.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 167 shares in the company, valued at $7,570.11. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Sean C. Flynn sold 8,115 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.33, for a total transaction of $367,852.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 167 shares in the company, valued at $7,570.11. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 3,278 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.57, for a total value of $169,046.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,206,480.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 54,267 shares of company stock worth $2,450,996. 7.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vericel

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCEL. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 98.5% in the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 226,015 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $8,048,000 after purchasing an additional 112,169 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vericel by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 560,419 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $19,957,000 after acquiring an additional 97,952 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Vericel by 54.4% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 126,383 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $4,236,000 after purchasing an additional 44,507 shares during the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC raised its position in Vericel by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 10,340 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 1,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Vericel by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,339,960 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $83,326,000 after purchasing an additional 109,215 shares during the last quarter.

Vericel Company Profile

Vericel Corporation, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and distribution of cellular therapies for sports medicine and severe burn care markets in North America. The company markets autologous cell therapy products comprising MACI, an autologous cultured chondrocytes on porcine collagen membrane for the repair of symptomatic, and single or multiple full-thickness cartilage defects of the knee; Epicel, a permanent skin replacement humanitarian use device for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with deep-dermal or full-thickness burns; and NexoBrid, a biological orphan product for eschar removal in adults with deep partial-thickness and/or full-thickness thermal burns.