Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Buy” Rating

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research cut Vericel from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Vericel from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vericel in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.50.

Vericel Stock Down 3.3%

NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $37.85 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $37.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.38. Vericel has a 52 week low of $29.24 and a 52 week high of $63.00. The stock has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 157.71 and a beta of 1.17.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $67.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 million. Vericel had a net margin of 5.06% and a return on equity of 4.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.02) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vericel will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VCEL. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vericel by 90.3% during the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,210,929 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $69,578,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048,864 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 244.6% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 859,486 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,755,000 after buying an additional 610,045 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its position in Vericel by 30.7% during the second quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,784,927 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $75,949,000 after buying an additional 419,183 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Vericel by 19.5% during the second quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,463,590 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $104,826,000 after buying an additional 401,990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Vericel by 62.5% in the second quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 997,291 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $42,435,000 after acquiring an additional 383,498 shares during the period.

Vericel Company Profile

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.