Vericel's (VCEL) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Truist Financial

Key Points

• Truist Financial reaffirmed its “buy” rating on Vericel and raised its price target from $54 to $58, implying 23.67% upside from the prior close. Analysts’ consensus rating remains “Hold,” with an average target price of $58.50.
• Vericel reported quarterly EPS of $0.04, exceeding the expected loss of $0.04, while revenue reached $77.46 million—above estimates and up 22.5% year over year.
• The stock opened at $46.90, near its 12-month high of $49.32, while company insiders sold 47,732 shares worth about $2.08 million over the past three months.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by stock analysts at Truist Financial in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $58.00 price target on the biotechnology company's stock, up from their prior price target of $54.00. Truist Financial's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 23.67% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on VCEL. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research note on Tuesday. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $60.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vericel from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Vericel from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Four research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $58.50.

Vericel Trading Down 1.5%

NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $46.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a PE ratio of 111.44 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.33. Vericel has a 12 month low of $28.95 and a 12 month high of $49.32.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $77.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.70 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 6.41% and a net margin of 7.35%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.01) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Vericel will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Joseph Anthony Mara, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.75, for a total value of $223,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 16,009 shares in the company, valued at $716,402.75. This trade represents a 23.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.64, for a total transaction of $684,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,647 shares in the company, valued at $75,169.08. The trade was a 90.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 47,732 shares of company stock worth $2,084,167. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vericel

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of Vericel by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 23,079 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,027,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. 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 valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Vericel by 651.3% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,667 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,312 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 18.4% in the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 15,097 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 2,348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 19.7% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,098,771 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $35,347,000 after purchasing an additional 180,761 shares during the period.

About Vericel

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.