Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Director Sells $150,000.00 in Stock

Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Director Robert L. Md Zerbe sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $150,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 26,595 shares in the company, valued at $1,595,700. This represents a 8.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Vericel Trading Down 0.8 %

VCEL traded down $0.49 on Monday, hitting $58.62. 588,410 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 431,077. Vericel Co. has a one year low of $32.31 and a one year high of $61.49. The firm has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 977.17 and a beta of 1.66. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.00.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $57.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 anticipate that Vericel Co. will post 0.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vericel

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Vericel in the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,538,000. Scholtz & Company LLC purchased a new stake in Vericel during the second quarter valued at $1,357,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its position in Vericel by 4.6% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,079,048 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,590,000 after purchasing an additional 47,108 shares during the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Vericel in the 3rd quarter worth $781,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vericel by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 420,643 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $19,299,000 after buying an additional 25,626 shares during the last quarter.

About Vericel

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.