Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Earns “Buy” Rating from HC Wainwright

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by HC Wainwright in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $60.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s target price indicates a potential upside of 19.93% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on Vericel in a research note on Friday, August 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.71.

Vericel Stock Up 4.1 %

VCEL opened at $50.03 on Friday. Vericel has a twelve month low of $32.28 and a twelve month high of $54.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $44.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.34. The company has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of -5,003,000.00 and a beta of 1.66.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $57.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.32 million. Vericel had a net margin of 0.37% and a return on equity of 0.35%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vericel will post 0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.38, for a total value of $724,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,142,373.06. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Vericel news, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $241,252.88. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at $454,960. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.38, for a total value of $724,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,937 shares in the company, valued at $9,142,373.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 29,166 shares of company stock worth $1,200,764. Company insiders own 7.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCEL. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Vericel by 4,126.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 634 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 319.0% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 662 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 48.1% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,247 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 22.2% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,773 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vericel in the third quarter valued at $92,000.

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.