Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Receives Consensus Rating of "Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the six brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $46.40.

VCEL has been the subject of several research reports. HC Wainwright increased their target price on shares of Vericel from $46.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $54.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Vericel from a "d+" rating to a "c-" rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th.

Vericel Stock Down 1.6 %

VCEL stock traded down $0.84 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $50.23. 262,750 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 583,783. Vericel has a 52 week low of $29.24 and a 52 week high of $53.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $47.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a PE ratio of -558.05 and a beta of 1.71.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.08. Vericel had a negative net margin of 1.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.55%. The business had revenue of $65.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.28 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vericel will post 0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 3,278 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.57, for a total transaction of $169,046.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,206,480.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 2,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.09, for a total transaction of $83,798.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,176,790.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 3,278 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.57, for a total transaction of $169,046.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,206,480.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,193 shares of company stock valued at $2,845,068 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 7.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Vericel

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Vericel by 2.7% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,632,598 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $286,757,000 after acquiring an additional 201,157 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Vericel by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,400,735 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $85,631,000 after buying an additional 458,219 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Vericel by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,374,093 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $120,151,000 after buying an additional 48,514 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Vericel by 4.9% in 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 buying an additional 109,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 104.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,356,426 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $45,467,000 after purchasing an additional 692,260 shares during the last quarter.

About Vericel

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.