BTIG Research Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Stock

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) had its price objective boosted by equities researchers at BTIG Research from $56.00 to $66.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. BTIG Research’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 13.64% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on VCEL. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com raised Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on Vericel in a research note on Friday, August 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vericel currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.71.

Vericel Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ VCEL traded down $0.54 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $58.08. The company had a trading volume of 91,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 430,974. The business’s 50-day moving average is $46.41 and its 200 day moving average is $47.07. The stock has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of 968.00 and a beta of 1.66. Vericel has a 12-month low of $32.31 and a 12-month high of $61.49.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $57.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.32 million. Vericel had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 1.48%. On average, analysts anticipate that Vericel will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vericel

In other Vericel news, Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $150,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 26,595 shares in the company, valued at $1,595,700. This represents a 8.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.35, for a total value of $235,361.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $443,850. This trade represents a 34.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 31,666 shares of company stock valued at $1,350,764. Insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vericel

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Vericel by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,413,442 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $177,567,000 after acquiring an additional 39,349 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Vericel by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,372,812 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $100,251,000 after purchasing an additional 22,461 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Vericel by 1.7% during the third quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,075,730 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $87,700,000 after buying an additional 34,360 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Vericel by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,291,720 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $54,575,000 after purchasing an additional 351,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Vericel by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,154,053 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,768,000 after buying an additional 9,613 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.