Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Earns “Buy” Rating from Truist Financial

Truist Financial reissued their buy rating on shares of Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a $54.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on VCEL. TheStreet raised Vericel from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on Vericel from $46.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $46.40.

Vericel Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCEL opened at $52.02 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of -578.00 and a beta of 1.69. The business has a fifty day moving average of $45.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.86. Vericel has a 52-week low of $28.02 and a 52-week high of $52.50.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $65.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.28 million. Vericel had a negative return on equity of 1.55% and a negative net margin of 1.61%. The business’s revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.12 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Vericel will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vericel

In other Vericel news, Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 3,278 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.57, for a total transaction of $169,046.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,206,480.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Vericel news, SVP Sean C. Flynn sold 8,115 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.33, for a total transaction of $367,852.95. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,570.11. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 3,278 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.57, for a total value of $169,046.46. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,206,480.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,193 shares of company stock valued at $2,845,068 over the last ninety days. 5.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vericel

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCEL. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Vericel by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,632,598 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $286,757,000 after buying an additional 201,157 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Vericel by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,400,735 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $85,631,000 after buying an additional 458,219 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Vericel by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,374,093 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $120,151,000 after buying an additional 48,514 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Vericel by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,339,960 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $83,326,000 after buying an additional 109,215 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Vericel by 104.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,356,426 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,467,000 after buying an additional 692,260 shares during the period.

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.