Vericel’s (VCEL) Buy Rating Reiterated at Canaccord Genuity Group

Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated their buy rating on shares of Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $60.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

VCEL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, August 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen increased their price target on Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. StockNews.com raised Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.14.

Vericel Trading Up 4.2 %

NASDAQ VCEL opened at $59.11 on Tuesday. Vericel has a 1-year low of $32.31 and a 1-year high of $60.15. The company has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 985.33 and a beta of 1.66. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $46.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.02.

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

Insider Activity at Vericel

In other news, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at $443,850. This trade represents a 34.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of Vericel stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.38, for a total value of $724,150.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,142,373.06. This trade represents a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,166 shares of company stock worth $1,200,764 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vericel

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VCEL. Geneva Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Vericel by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,104,386 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $46,660,000 after buying an additional 420,078 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Vericel by 214.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 587,857 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,837,000 after purchasing an additional 400,667 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 37.4% during 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. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Vericel by 34.9% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 840,787 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $38,575,000 after purchasing an additional 217,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Vericel by 54.8% during the 3rd quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 590,145 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,934,000 after buying an additional 209,009 shares during the period.

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.