Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $47.06 and last traded at $46.98, with a volume of 640664 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $45.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vericel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 14th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Leerink Partners reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Vericel in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vericel from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.50.

Vericel Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a PE ratio of 111.86 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.95.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $68.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.68 million. Vericel had a net margin of 7.35% and a return on equity of 6.41%. The business’s revenue was up 30.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.23) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vericel Corporation will post 0.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vericel

In other Vericel news, CFO Joseph Anthony Mara, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.75, for a total value of $223,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 16,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,402.75. The trade was a 23.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sean C. Flynn sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.21, for a total transaction of $603,150.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,225.87. The trade was a 90.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 47,732 shares of company stock worth $2,084,167 in the last 90 days. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vericel

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Vericel by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,584,006 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $129,060,000 after acquiring an additional 68,368 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Vericel by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,163,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $113,933,000 after purchasing an additional 356,680 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vericel by 9.3% during the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,463,312 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $79,245,000 after purchasing an additional 208,750 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vericel by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,222,107 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,018,000 after purchasing an additional 11,178 shares during the period. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vericel by 9.0% in the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,946,305 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $61,250,000 after purchasing an additional 161,378 shares during the last quarter.

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.