Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) Stock Has Average Price Target of $58.40

Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $58.40.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price objective (up from $54.00) on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Vericel from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Thursday, July 30th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jonathan Siegal sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.90, for a total value of $220,050.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,078 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,714.20. This represents a 80.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vericel

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCEL. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Vericel during the second quarter worth $360,023,000. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Vericel by 9.3% in the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,463,312 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $79,245,000 after buying an additional 208,750 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vericel in the second quarter valued at $88,662,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vericel by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,580,967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $56,931,000 after buying an additional 290,795 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Vericel by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,098,771 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,347,000 after buying an additional 180,761 shares during the period.

Vericel Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCEL opened at $39.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.62 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.83. Vericel has a 1 year low of $28.95 and a 1 year high of $49.32.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $77.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.70 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 6.91% and a net margin of 7.91%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.01) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Vericel will post 0.54 EPS for the current year.

About Vericel

Vericel Corporation is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on cell therapies and advanced treatments for severe injuries and damaged tissue. The company develops and commercializes products designed to support the repair or replacement of tissue that may not heal adequately through conventional treatment.

Vericel’s primary products include MACI, an autologous cell therapy used to repair symptomatic, full-thickness cartilage defects of the knee in adults, and Epicel, a cultured epidermal autograft used for permanent skin replacement in patients with deep dermal or full-thickness burns.