Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Upgraded to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on VCEL. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on shares of Vericel from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Vericel from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vericel in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Leerink Partners reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.00.

Vericel Price Performance

Shares of VCEL opened at $29.34 on Friday. Vericel has a 1-year low of $28.95 and a 1-year high of $46.10. The company has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.65 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.74.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45. The business had revenue of $92.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.66 million. Vericel had a net margin of 5.98% and a return on equity of 5.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vericel will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vericel

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VCEL. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 51.3% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 805 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Vericel by 1.9% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,882 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in Vericel by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 25,744 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $927,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake 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. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Vericel by 0.8% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 45,404 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,932,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the last quarter.

Vericel Company Profile

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.