Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on VCEL. Weiss Ratings cut Vericel from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Leerink Partners reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.40.

Vericel Price Performance

Vericel stock opened at $36.30 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.43 and a beta of 1.12. Vericel has a 1-year low of $28.95 and a 1-year high of $45.97. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $34.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.75.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $68.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.68 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 6.41% and a net margin of 7.35%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 30.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.23) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vericel will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vericel news, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 3,472 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $121,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 75,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,460. The trade was a 4.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vericel

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vericel during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Huntington National Bank raised its stake 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 buying an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Vericel during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 116.5% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 970 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vericel during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000.

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.