Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Truist Financial Analyst Says

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) had its target price lifted by analysts at Truist Financial from $61.00 to $67.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Truist Financial’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 21.93% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on VCEL. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their target price on Vericel from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.14.

Vericel Trading Down 2.3 %

NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $54.95 on Wednesday. Vericel has a 12 month low of $32.31 and a 12 month high of $61.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 915.99 and a beta of 1.71. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.17.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.03. Vericel had a return on equity of 1.48% and a net margin of 1.56%. The company had revenue of $57.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.32 million. Equities analysts predict that Vericel will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Paul K. Wotton sold 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.72, for a total transaction of $152,672.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,609,045.44. The trade was a 8.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 26,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,595,700. This trade represents a 8.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 44,266 shares of company stock valued at $2,090,636. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vericel

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Vericel by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 33,543 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,412,000 after buying an additional 4,117 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 38.5% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 11,576 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 3,219 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vericel in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $185,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,154,053 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,768,000 after acquiring an additional 9,613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Vericel by 145.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 111,527 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,712,000 after purchasing an additional 66,082 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.