Insider Selling: Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Insider Sells $450,000.00 in Stock

Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $450,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,408,885. This trade represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Jonathan Mark Hopper also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, April 2nd, Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 3,472 shares of Vericel stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $121,520.00.

Vericel Stock Up 4.1%

Vericel stock opened at $46.98 on Friday. Vericel Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.95 and a 12-month high of $47.06. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $36.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a PE ratio of 111.86 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its holdings in Vericel by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,664,578 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,941,000 after acquiring an additional 169,971 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 583,884 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $21,026,000 after acquiring an additional 41,018 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,580,967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $56,931,000 after purchasing an additional 290,795 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 90.3% during the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,210,929 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $69,578,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048,864 shares during the period. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vericel by 9.0% in the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,946,305 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $61,250,000 after purchasing an additional 161,378 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vericel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 14th. Leerink Partners reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Vericel from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vericel presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.50.

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.