Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Shares Gap Up on Strong Earnings

Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $36.78, but opened at $40.50. Vericel shares last traded at $37.2280, with a volume of 131,597 shares traded.

The biotechnology company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $68.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.68 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 5.17% and a net margin of 5.98%.Vericel’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.23) earnings per share.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VCEL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. HC Wainwright upped their price target on Vericel from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Leerink Partners reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.40.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 3,472 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,460. This represents a 4.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vericel

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCEL. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Vericel during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $242,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Vericel by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 31,445 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vericel by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 371,486 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $16,576,000 after buying an additional 44,333 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vericel by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 123,028 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,490,000 after buying an additional 10,191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Vericel by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 277,253 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $11,797,000 after buying an additional 13,422 shares in the last quarter.

Vericel Trading Down 1.2%

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $33.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 118.10 and a beta of 1.15.

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.