Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) has earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $62.29.

Several analysts have recently commented on VCEL shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Vericel from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $61.00 target price (down from $67.00) on shares of Vericel in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

Vericel Stock Down 3.4 %

Vericel stock opened at $44.50 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $53.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.68. The company has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 741.79 and a beta of 1.78. Vericel has a 52 week low of $39.12 and a 52 week high of $63.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vericel

In other Vericel news, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 26,592 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.78, for a total transaction of $1,217,381.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 259,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,902,662.66. This trade represents a 9.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan Siegal sold 1,092 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $67,693.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,759.94. This trade represents a 47.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 34,092 shares of company stock valued at $1,683,582. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VCEL. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Vericel by 214.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 587,857 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,837,000 after acquiring an additional 400,667 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Vericel by 40.0% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 28,073 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,186,000 after purchasing an additional 8,020 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Vericel by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,154,053 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,768,000 after purchasing an additional 9,613 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Vericel by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,900 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,312,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vericel during the 3rd quarter worth $563,000.

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.