Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

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

VCEL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Vericel from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Vericel from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vericel in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.50.

Vericel Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $37.85 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a PE ratio of 157.71 and a beta of 1.17. Vericel has a 52-week low of $29.24 and a 52-week high of $63.00.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.12. Vericel had a return on equity of 4.30% and a net margin of 5.06%.The firm had revenue of $67.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.02) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Vericel will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vericel

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 51.3% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 805 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Vericel by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,882 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in Vericel by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 25,744 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Vericel by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,937 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 45,404 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,932,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the last quarter.

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.