Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Given “Buy” Rating at Canaccord Genuity Group

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

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on Vericel in a report on Friday, August 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. Stephens raised 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 boosted their price target on shares of Vericel from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a report on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.14.

Vericel Stock Up 4.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $59.11 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $46.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.02. The company has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a PE ratio of 985.33 and a beta of 1.66. Vericel has a fifty-two week low of $32.31 and a fifty-two week high of $60.15.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $55.32 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vericel will post 0.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Steven C. Gilman sold 5,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.35, for a total transaction of $235,361.55. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at $443,850. The trade was a 34.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominick Colangelo sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.38, for a total transaction of $724,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,142,373.06. This represents a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,166 shares of company stock worth $1,200,764 in the last three months. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vericel by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,413,442 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $177,567,000 after purchasing an additional 39,349 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Vericel by 1.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,372,812 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $100,251,000 after acquiring an additional 22,461 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Vericel by 1.7% in the third quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,075,730 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $87,700,000 after acquiring an additional 34,360 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. increased 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 worth $54,575,000 after acquiring an additional 351,550 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Vericel by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,154,053 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,768,000 after purchasing an additional 9,613 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.