Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Hold

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. BTIG Research lowered shares of Vericel from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on shares of Vericel from $61.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vericel from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target (up from $41.00) on shares of Vericel in a research note on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vericel presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.20.

Vericel Price Performance

VCEL traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $39.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 423,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 567,427. The stock has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of 332.19 and a beta of 1.41. Vericel has a fifty-two week low of $29.24 and a fifty-two week high of $63.00. The business’s 50-day moving average is $34.22 and its 200-day moving average is $37.73.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.12. Vericel had a return on equity of 2.47% and a net margin of 2.85%.The company had revenue of $67.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.02) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Vericel has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts expect that Vericel will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vericel

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VCEL. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vericel by 19.5% in the 2nd 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 period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Vericel by 1.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,273,494 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $101,443,000 after acquiring an additional 35,345 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Vericel by 90.3% in the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,210,929 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $69,578,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048,864 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Vericel by 9.0% in the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,946,305 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $61,250,000 after acquiring an additional 161,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. grew its holdings in Vericel by 18.0% during the 2nd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,742,324 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $74,136,000 after acquiring an additional 265,606 shares in 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.