Truist Financial Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Truist Financial reissued their buy rating on shares of Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $54.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on Vericel from $46.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. TheStreet raised Vericel from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $46.40.

Vericel Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $52.02 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $45.47 and its 200 day moving average is $38.64. Vericel has a fifty-two week low of $28.02 and a fifty-two week high of $52.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of -577.94 and a beta of 1.69.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.08. Vericel had a negative return on equity of 1.55% and a negative net margin of 1.61%. The company had revenue of $65.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.28 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.12 EPS. Vericel’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Vericel will post 0.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vericel

In other news, SVP Sean C. Flynn sold 8,115 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.33, for a total value of $367,852.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,570.11. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.09, for a total value of $83,798.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,790.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Sean C. Flynn sold 8,115 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.33, for a total transaction of $367,852.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,570.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 62,915 shares of company stock valued at $2,676,022. 5.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vericel

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 83.1% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 105,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,014,000 after buying an additional 47,673 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 2.1% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 459,334 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $17,556,000 after purchasing an additional 9,289 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 600.3% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,184 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 5,301 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. acquired a new position in Vericel in the first quarter valued at about $589,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Vericel by 58.1% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 26,447 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after buying an additional 9,717 shares during the last quarter.

About Vericel

Vericel Corporation, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and distribution of cellular therapies for sports medicine and severe burn care markets in North America. The company markets autologous cell therapy products comprising MACI, an autologous cultured chondrocytes on porcine collagen membrane for the repair of symptomatic, and single or multiple full-thickness cartilage defects of the knee; Epicel, a permanent skin replacement humanitarian use device for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with deep-dermal or full-thickness burns; and NexoBrid, a biological orphan product for eschar removal in adults with deep partial-thickness and/or full-thickness thermal burns.