Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Shares Gap Down to $49.52

Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) shares gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $49.52, but opened at $46.00. Vericel shares last traded at $47.72, with a volume of 84,179 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on VCEL. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on Vericel from $46.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Vericel from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.40.

Vericel Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $47.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.57. The company has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -550.22 and a beta of 1.74.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $65.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Vericel Co. will post 0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vericel

In other news, SVP Sean C. Flynn sold 8,115 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.33, for a total transaction of $367,852.95. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 167 shares in the company, valued at $7,570.11. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Sean C. Flynn sold 8,115 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.33, for a total value of $367,852.95. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 167 shares in the company, valued at $7,570.11. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael Halpin sold 7,874 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.71, for a total transaction of $352,046.54. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,429.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,267 shares of company stock worth $2,450,996. 7.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vericel

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Vericel by 8.3% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 12,985 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $675,000 after buying an additional 995 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Vericel by 49.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 49,340 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,567,000 after acquiring an additional 16,312 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in Vericel in the 1st quarter worth about $990,000. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Vericel by 0.4% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 89,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,656,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, ClariVest Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Vericel by 14.4% in the first quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 51,575 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,683,000 after buying an additional 6,506 shares in the last quarter.

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.