Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Stephens lifted their target price on Vericel from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, August 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. BTIG Research lowered their target price on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, August 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.75.

Vericel Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $41.06 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -4,106.00 and a beta of 1.67. Vericel has a 1-year low of $30.18 and a 1-year high of $54.10. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.31.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.10). Vericel had a net margin of 0.37% and a return on equity of 0.35%. The company had revenue of $52.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.59 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.11) EPS. Vericel’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vericel will post 0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vericel

In other Vericel news, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $443,850. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Vericel news, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.35, for a total transaction of $235,361.55. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at $443,850. This represents a 0.00 % 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, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.40, for a total value of $899,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,356,161.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,333 shares of company stock valued at $2,167,562 over the last 90 days. 5.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 86.1% in the 1st quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 482 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Vericel by 319.0% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 662 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vericel by 9.7% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,484 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vericel by 178.7% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,584 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 1,657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RiverPark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vericel in the first quarter worth approximately $147,000.

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.