Insider Selling: Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Director Sells 2,600 Shares of Stock

Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Director Paul K. Wotton sold 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.72, for a total transaction of $152,672.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,609,045.44. This represents a 8.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Vericel Price Performance

Vericel stock opened at $56.52 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $48.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.62. Vericel Co. has a 1 year low of $32.31 and a 1 year high of $61.49. The stock has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 942.16 and a beta of 1.71.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $57.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.32 million. Vericel had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 1.48%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vericel Co. will post 0.13 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VCEL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com raised Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Stephens raised shares of Vericel to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. TD Cowen raised their target price 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. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Vericel from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $59.71.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vericel

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