Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Reaches New 1-Year High at $53.44

Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $53.44 and last traded at $52.97, with a volume of 62984 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $51.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VCEL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Vericel from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. BTIG Research dropped their target price on Vericel from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Vericel from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. StockNews.com cut Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Vericel in a report on Thursday, June 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.33.

Vericel Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.07.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $51.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.07 million. Vericel had a net margin of 0.22% and a return on equity of 0.21%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.16) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Vericel Co. will post 0.11 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vericel news, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 6,772 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.02, for a total transaction of $304,875.44. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,924.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Vericel news, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 6,772 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.02, for a total transaction of $304,875.44. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,924.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.12, for a total transaction of $772,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,752 shares in the company, valued at $9,739,578.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 63,791 shares of company stock worth $3,101,269. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vericel

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vericel by 86.1% during the 1st quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 482 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the period. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI acquired a new stake in shares of Vericel during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vericel by 319.0% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 662 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 504 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in shares of Vericel during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vericel during the 4th quarter valued at $65,000.

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.