Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

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

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings cut Vericel from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Leerink Partners reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.40.

Vericel Price Performance

Vericel stock opened at $37.46 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.69. Vericel has a one year low of $28.95 and a one year high of $43.57. The company has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a PE ratio of 89.19 and a beta of 1.12.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $68.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.68 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 6.41% and a net margin of 7.35%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 30.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.23) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Vericel will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vericel

In other news, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 3,472 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $121,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,460. This represents a 4.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Vericel during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Vericel by 51.3% in 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 period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Vericel during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Vericel during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $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.