Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Vericel Corporation shares gapped down after BTIG Research downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a neutral rating, opening at $31.85 down from a previous close of $33.23.
• Despite the downgrade, four analysts maintain a "Buy" rating on the stock with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.40.
• The company's quarterly earnings report showed a 20.1% increase in revenue year-over-year, totaling $63.24 million, with earnings beating analysts' expectations.

Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after BTIG Research downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a neutral rating. The stock had previously closed at $33.23, but opened at $31.85. Vericel shares last traded at $31.15, with a volume of 120,872 shares changing hands.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on VCEL. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $67.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a report on Monday, June 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Vericel by 11.1% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,300 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 1,026 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Vericel by 13.7% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,937 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of Vericel by 9.7% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 171,642 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $7,303,000 after buying an additional 15,153 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Vericel by 7,627.4% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,791 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $204,000 after buying an additional 4,729 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vericel during the second quarter valued at about $282,000.

Vericel Stock Up 6.1%

The stock's 50-day moving average price is $35.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.42. The firm has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 265.44 and a beta of 1.33.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.03. Vericel had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 2.47%. The business had revenue of $63.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.10) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Vericel Corporation will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

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.