Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Raised to "Hold" at StockNews.com

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

VCEL has been the subject of several other research reports. BTIG Research lowered their target price on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on Vericel in a research note on Friday, August 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. Stephens raised their price target on Vericel from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Vericel from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.75.

Vericel Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VCEL traded down $0.87 on Thursday, reaching $47.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 191,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 442,017. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.57. The company has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -4,710.00 and a beta of 1.70. Vericel has a 52-week low of $30.18 and a 52-week high of $54.10.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $52.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.59 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 0.35% and a net margin of 0.37%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.11) EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vericel will post 0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vericel

In other news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.12, for a total transaction of $772,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,752 shares in the company, valued at $9,739,578.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Vericel news, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 1,474 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total transaction of $67,568.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 487 shares in the company, valued at $22,324.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.12, for a total value of $772,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,752 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,739,578.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 63,791 shares of company stock valued at $3,101,269 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vericel

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Vericel by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,413,442 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $177,567,000 after purchasing an additional 39,349 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in Vericel by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,031,940 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $47,346,000 after buying an additional 10,245 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in Vericel by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 908,141 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $41,666,000 after buying an additional 66,464 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Vericel by 34.9% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 840,787 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $38,575,000 after buying an additional 217,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its holdings in Vericel by 509.1% in the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 836,481 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $43,514,000 after acquiring an additional 699,147 shares in 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.

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