Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of Vericel from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Vericel from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vericel in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Leerink Partners reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.00.

Vericel Stock Down 4.8%

VCEL opened at $29.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.65 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.74. Vericel has a twelve month low of $28.95 and a twelve month high of $46.10.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.45. The company had revenue of $92.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.66 million. Vericel had a net margin of 5.98% and a return on equity of 5.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vericel will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VCEL. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of Vericel in the fourth quarter worth $300,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Vericel by 30.7% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 13,025 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $469,000 after buying an additional 3,057 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Vericel during the fourth quarter worth about $58,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Vericel in the 4th quarter worth about $668,000. Finally, Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC increased its stake in Vericel by 43.5% in the 4th quarter. Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC now owns 135,054 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,863,000 after acquiring an additional 40,948 shares during the last quarter.

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.