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 Vericel stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $150,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,595,700. This represents a 8.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Vericel Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Vericel stock opened at $57.76 on Thursday. Vericel Co. has a 1-year low of $32.31 and a 1-year high of $61.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $46.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 962.83 and a beta of 1.66.

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. The firm had revenue of $57.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.32 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 1.48% and a net margin of 1.56%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vericel Co. will post 0.13 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on VCEL shares. Stephens upped 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. Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on shares of Vericel in a research note on Friday, August 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. BTIG Research boosted their price target on Vericel from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.71.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 9.7% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,484 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Vericel by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,773 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vericel by 6.2% during the second quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,850 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Vericel by 48.1% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,247 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Vericel by 3.3% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,866 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the period.

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.