HC Wainwright Reaffirms "Buy" Rating for Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL)

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by investment analysts at HC Wainwright in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $60.00 price objective on the biotechnology company's stock. HC Wainwright's price objective suggests a potential upside of 4.26% from the company's current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on VCEL. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Vericel from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Vericel from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Stephens upgraded shares of Vericel to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $62.14.

Vericel Stock Down 1.9 %

NASDAQ:VCEL traded down $1.12 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $57.55. 1,181,998 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 509,400. Vericel has a twelve month low of $37.35 and a twelve month high of $61.49. The business has a 50-day moving average of $56.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.84. The company has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 959.33 and a beta of 1.72.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $57.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.32 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 1.48% and a net margin of 1.56%. On average, research analysts forecast that Vericel will post 0.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Vericel news, Director Paul K. Wotton sold 2,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.72, for a total value of $152,672.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,609,045.44. The trade was a 8.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.72, for a total transaction of $587,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 58,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,427,545.12. This trade represents a 14.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 15,100 shares of company stock worth $889,872. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Vericel

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Vericel by 22.2% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,773 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 48.1% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,247 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC increased its position in Vericel by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 7,400 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Vericel by 4,126.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 634 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Vericel by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,890 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $714,000 after acquiring an additional 644 shares during the last quarter.

Vericel Company Profile

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.