Insider Selling: Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Insider Sells $121,520.00 in Stock

Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 3,472 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $121,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 75,556 shares in the company, valued at $2,644,460. The trade was a 4.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Vericel Trading Up 2.1%

NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $34.03 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $34.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.77 and a beta of 1.20. Vericel Corporation has a 1-year low of $28.95 and a 1-year high of $45.97.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.45. The firm had revenue of $92.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.66 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 5.17% and a net margin of 5.98%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Vericel Corporation will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Vericel in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in Vericel by 51.3% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 805 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Vericel in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Vericel by 116.5% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 970 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Vericel in the third quarter valued at about $31,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on VCEL shares. Leerink Partners reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on Vericel from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Vericel from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vericel in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vericel presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.00.

About Vericel

Vericel Corporation is a biotechnology company specializing in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of cell-based therapies for patients with severe diseases and conditions. The company’s expertise lies in regenerative medicine, where it harnesses the power of autologous cell processing to create products designed to restore function and promote healing in damaged tissues.

Vericel currently markets two FDA-approved therapies. MACI® (autologous cultured chondrocytes on porcine collagen membrane) is indicated for the repair of symptomatic cartilage defects of the knee in adult patients.